The Outsider's Story
by Mgeni
Summary: Rafiki and Mufasa needed help in their plan to make Kovu and Kiara fall in love. Little did they know the outsider cub that they would use in their plan was going to hold the entire fate of the pridelands in his paws. New changes from comments!
1. A plan and a dream

Hi everybody. This is my very first fanfic so I'm not sure if it will be very good, but I'll let you be the judge of that. If anyone has got any suggestion to my story I'd be happy to here them. enjoy. Mgeni's story. Disney Characters are owned to Disney NOT ME!

Chapter 1

A Plan and a Dream

The night was peaceful throughout the pridelands. The sounds of crickets singing in a wispy song was all that could be heard through the tall thick brush as a cold breeze rushed through the plains swiftly. The wind came fluttering down through the twisted old branches and leaves of the ancient and vigorous tree of life, breaking the meditation of, none other than, the old wise Rafiki. The old timer had been up almost all the night with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Mufasa you're crazy!" The old mandrill shaman said criticizing the ideas of is long dead friend. "Do you think I can do everything? There's no way I can do this thing on my own!" Rafiki said, reflecting back on Mufasa's "master" plan of getting Kiara and Kovu to fall in love by having them meet each other again.

"What do you think I can do, wave my staff around in the air and just make them fall in love, or how about just walking into the outlands, scooping up Kovu, and then bringing him straight to Kiara?" He complained to Mufasa.

After calming down a little, Rafiki, with wooden staff in hand, angrily sat down and tried to meditating. As he tried to find something soothing to focus on, a very small, cool gust of wind blew into him, reminding Rafiki that Mufasa's spirit was still present and waiting for an answer.

"I already told you!" Rafiki complained. "I can't do it alone and there is no one who would even think about helping me!"

A large cold gust of wind hit Rafiki in the face, almost blowing him over. Rafiki paused trying to make sure what he heard was right.

"What do you mean you know where I can get some help?" Rafiki asked suspiciously.

To answer his question a breeze began to blow, snapping off a twig of one of the many branches. The twig fell to the floor, pointing to one of the thousands of drawings along the walls and tree limbs that Rafiki and all of his ancestors had made over their lifetimes. It showed the history and prophesies of all the pridelands. The painting that it fell in front of was a small but important drawing signifying the many worlds that make up all of existence.

Rafiki looked carefully at the painting and the twig, searching for an answer on what it could mean. He looked at the ancient branch from which the twig fell. What he saw was on old worn out picture of a young lone lion. Rafiki realized what this meant.

"Are you insane." He said frustratingly "Bringing someone here from another world would just be asking for trouble, worse than that old prophecy. He could go anywhere he wants, and doing whatever he feels like. How could I control that kind of…" Rafiki paused realizing what he had just said and smirked. "So you still know what you're doing. This could actually work!" He jumped off the branch and picked up his staff. "Now where should we look?"

* * *

A strange white mist covered the vast landscape around the young cub. The cub was confused as he look around. He tried looking for familiar landmarks, but all the fog was so thick that he nothing but white all around him, he was completely lost. As he staggered through the mist he heard a voice.

"Who are you outsider, what's your name?" it said in a female voice.

"Uhh… Hello?" He called hesitantly.

Silence. There was no answer from the where the voice came from. There was only the sound of the crunching of the wet grass beneath his paws. The cub had a strange urge to go in the direction from where he heard the voice. His fear of where he was or how he ended up there was outweighed by his curiosity abnormal desire to find the owner of the voice. He began to cautiously walk in its direction. As he began walking, two bright yellow glowing eyes cut through the haze in front of him. The cub froze in place as he tried to figure out what they were. He stared at them as a shadow formed around them, taking the form of a large lion.

"W…Who's there?" the cub asked timidly, unsure whether to stand his ground or run.

Once he spoke, the shadow quickly started to disappear into the mist. "Hey!" he cried as he rushed in an effort to catch up with the shadow but to no avail. The shadow had completely vanished from his view, once again leaving the club alone in the mist. _Got to keep moving_ he thought to himself.

After a few steps, a colossal rock formation came into view. It was almost like a small mountain, sloping upwards until it got to the middle where it seemed someone had sliced the rest away in one clear cut. A large boulder rose up from that side. It looked so large that many people could probably stand on the very edge and never have to worry about it collapsing.

The strange compulsion he had practically screamed for him to get to the ledge. Curious as to what was there, he decided to give in and start the walk/climb to the top of the slope. As he looked up to see how close he was, another shadow appeared on the ledge just above him. It was smaller than the previous one and looked like it belonged to a cub.

"Come on Mgeni you slowpoke." It said in a girls voice as it looked down at him.

"H…how do you know my name?" Mgeni stammered in confusion, "Who are you?"

The shadow laughed and ran away from the ledge into the mist, leaving him once again alone. He was unsure of what was happening. Mgeni continued his short walk/climb up to the ledge, getting ever closer. As he reached the top he looked around seeing nothing in the mist.

A large shadow formed through the mist. The mist around the shadow slowly began to clear as it walked closer to Mgeni, taking shape, becoming a large tan lion. He came out of the mist proud and chest high as if he was a king. The large tan lion stepped toward Mgeni giving him a intimidating stare. Mgeni was almost frozen in fear as the lion got closer to him, his eyes locked onto Mgeni's as if he was looking for something inside of the small cub. The lion roared loudly, causing Mgeni to yelp in suprise.

* * *

Mgeni practically jumped out of his sleep. He looked around frantically to find out he was safe and sound inside his pride's den. All of the pride members were still asleep inside the den. Beside him he saw a male lion, almost as large as the one in his dream, yawning loudly in his sleep, oblivious to Mgeni's actions. Mgeni chuckled. _So it was dad who scared me out of my sleep. Oh well, no point in complaining about it_ he thought to himself.

Sunlight began to trickle into the mouth of the den as the sun was about to slowly rise for the morning. Mgeni stepped out of the den and into the canyon to watch. He always enjoyed in watching the sunrise over the savannah and would usually make an excuse to wake up early just so he could watch it. He looked to the east and saw distant thunder clouds moving in. _A rainy day hmm? Well at least I have my family…_ he thought as he scampered back into the den. Little did he know that his life was about to change completely.


	2. Shattered Lives Fragments of Hope

Hi everyone, and thanks so much for continuing to read. This chapter might have to go over some re editing but hopefully its good enough. Just like to say all the Disney characters in this story are owned to Disney NOT ME. Sadia Hofu, and Mgeni are owned to me, dont hurt me.

Chapter 2

Shattered Lives Fragments of Hope

The night was held by an eerie silence around Pride rock. The rock formation was in darkness only illuminated dimly by the thousands of stars.

"Hofu!" A painful cry punctured through the unnatural silence. The cry came from the lioness Sadia, distressed at the disappearance of her six week old cub Hofu. Hofu had proven to be a curious cub and tended to wander off even at such a young age. While it was natural for cubs to be curious and wander off Hofu seemed to be a natural adventurer and did seemed to love satisfying his curiosity.

Almost the entire pride had come to look for the missing cub, but none looked more desperately than Sadia though. Sadia was usually very protective of her cub ever since the father, a rogue lion, moved on from the pridelands. She had become more worried as the search went on for almost two hours.Sadia looked behind every stone, and searched through even the shortest brush to no avail, until she saw a male lion not to far away from her. He was about normal size for an average lion, unlike his father. His fur was a brownish gold and he had a large reddish mane.

"Simba." She sighed in relief. She was at first shocked run to into him, but that surprise was quickly replaced by desperation. "Has anyone found Hofu? Any sines at all, please tell me!"

"No one has found a trace of him, but don't give up hope Sadia." Simba said in a reassuring voice, which did little comfort Sadia, "He couldn't have gone far, I'm sure we'll find him."

"I don't know Simba. I… it… its all my fault, if I had been paying more attention this wouldn't have happened. If I just watched him a little more carefully…" Sadia was bordering on tears. She had been a good mother in her short time as one. Though no one expected Hofu wander off from pride rock wile everyone was asleep.

Sadia's depression was obvious to everyone once Hofu wandered off. Her light green eyes which usually contained the very embodiment of kindness and patience were filled with water. The cream furred lioness which was almost always had her head high and supportive for those around her was now sulking in misery. It was plain to see now Sadia had become very close to her son. She looked down to the ground as she thought about him. His small tan fur, which she always had trouble keeping clean. His light green eyes were just like hers, full of happiness and life. She never new his voice though, he was still to young to speak.

"It's not your fault Saidia; we had to keep a close eye on Kiara, when she was his age." A lone lioness said as she walked out of the brush. She had a light cream colored fur and deep blue eyes. Her voice was soft and soothing.

"Nala," Simba said slightly surprised. "Who's watching Kiara?" Simba was always a little protective of his only daughter, especially after her run in with Zira and Kovu just the other day before.

"Don't worry Simba. Your mother is watching her." Nala said reassuringly. "I've been lending the lionesses in the search but no one has found Hofu yet."

Sadia's heart sank like a stone. Her head dropped, she couldn't stop thinking she had been a horrible parent. _Oh king Mufasa; please help us find my son. He's too young for me to lose him now. _Sadia said in her mind.

"There's still hope Saidia." Simba reassured her. "We still haven't heard from Zazu, or Timon and Pumbaa yet. They could have found something by now."

That was little helping Sadia though. The search had lasted for what seemed to be half the night. Sadia feared that it was far too late to find any sign of Hofu, other than a dead body. The search continued for what seemed like an eternity for Sadia, as Simba and Nala lead the search.

Simba became worried about Sadia's worsening distress as more lionesses turned up with no trace of Hofu. Everyone new that as the night drew on, it was more likely that someone, or something would find the unfortunate cub, but no one spoke a word of it to each other. It was better not to think those kinds of thoughts.

"Nala." Simba quietly whispered so Sadia wouldn't hear.

"What is it?" Nala questioned

"I'm not sure if we'll be able to find Hofu anymore, but I still need to here if Timon or Pumbaa found anything. Will you look for them?" Simba asked.

"Right." I'll find them." Nala agreed. She new Simba had a point. Hofu had wandered while the majority of the pride was asleep. It had been almost an hour later before anyone realized he was missing. By now the odds of finding the poor cub were slim to none, but she did not want to tell that to Sadia. She left quietly through the brush and into the night. She had a good idea of where the dynamic duo was.

* * *

Timon searched through the grass for safety. He knew he was suppopsed searching for the lost lion cub, but right now it seemed he had gotten separated from the rest of the search party in the brush. Normally this would not be a problem for the meerkat, but in the pitch black night Timon could barley see past the large brush in front of him.

A sound came from behind him. Timon froze. While it could have been one of the lionesses, it also could have been a night predator looking for a meal. If it was the cub wasn't going to be the only one needing rescue. He looked behind him to see a large shadow racing toward him.

"AAAHHHHH!" Timon yelled in terror, and to his surprise it was answered by a yell in terror back. Timon let out a sigh of relief knowing there could only be one person who would do that. "Pumbaa I told you we have to stick together if we're ever going to find the little guy… Pumbaa?"

"Sorry Timon, but I think I found something you should take a look at." Pumbaa said nervously. Pumbaa was obviously distracted by something as he kept glancing back in one direction.

_Why is he acting so strange? Usually nothing gets to the big lug._ Timon thought. "Okay, well what is it you want me to see so badly?" he asked.

"Uhh… over there…" He pointed back to a patch of rocks and small boulders.

Timon walked over to the location that Pumbaa pointed at and immediately found out why Pumbaa was acting strangely. On top of the small rocks was a small pool of blood was trickling to the ground. Timon stopped right where he was. There was no mistaking whose blood it was either, the cub's scent was all around the jagged rocks. Both Timon and Pumbaa stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity. It was like the entire incident with Kopa all over again.

Timon finally broke the silence, "Oh jeeze what are we gonna do. This wasn't supposed to happen, he was supposed to be just fine, not this."

"Uhh… do you think we should call Simba?" Pumbaa suggested, still a bit shaken.

"We have no idea where he is." Timon responded

"We could go back to Pride rock. He would probably show up."

"Hey I've got an idea," Timon said struck with a sudden burst of inspiration. "We could call Simba. All we have to do is go to Pride rock he's bound to show up."

"Oh that's a great idea Timon." Pumbaa said, relieved that Timon, the brains had come up with another good idea.

Timon hoped onto his usual place on top of Pumbaa's head. The thought of the pool of blood and stains along the rocks they found in closer inspection did not leave their thoughts for a second. It was almost too much like what had happened to Simba's son. The only difference between them was Kopa was killed by Zira before she and her followers were banished.

As they made their trek back to pride rock they realized that there was something in hot pursuit of them. They turned to see Nala quickly catching up to them. "Timon, Pumbaa!" she called out. "Simba asked me to look for you, have you found the cub?" By now she had completely caught up to them.

"Err… well yeah and no." Timon said, not sure how to explain.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Nala said confused

Timon wasn't sure how to tell her, "We didn't find the cub but we kinda in an accidental type of way, sort of unintentionally found…"

"His blood!" Pumbaa cried.

"What!" Nala was shocked. She knew this was a definite possibility but didn't want to think it would happen. "We've got to tell Simba immediately."

"Good you know where he is?" Timon asked.

"He's not far. Just a couple minutes away." Nala answered. _I just wish Sadia wasn't with him. Well I guess we wouldn't be able to keep it a secret, I just hope she will be strong enough to deal with this._ Nala thought to herself.

* * *

Simba and Nala looked at the rocks in shock at the rocks. No one wanted to think that this would happen to Hofu. Sadia couldn't look away from the pool of blood that bore the scent of her cub. It was as if her entire world had collapsed in on itself. Tear began to poor down her muzzle and she began to silently cry. Nala nuzzled beside her in an effort to give her support, but with little effect. Timon and Pumbaa broke down as well once Sadia started to cry.

"Sadia, I'm sorry. I wish there was something we could do." Simba began but was interrupted by something in the air.

"Sire, Sire!" It was Zazu; the hornbill had bad timing for the moment. "Sire urgent news." He said as he landed, almost, but not completely oblivious to situation that had just unfolded.

"What is it Zazu?" Simba asked.

"Sire, hyenas," Zazu spat out "there's two of them, their in the pride lands."

"What? Where are they?" Simba asked

"There just inside the border, but I'm not sure what their doing, it appears their trying to get out of the Pridelands as fast as they can." Zazu answered inquisitively.

Simba sighed. It all made sense now. The hyenas must have killed Hofu as a small act of vengeance. It was typical for this clan of hyenas. They were kicked out of the pridelands after Scar was overthrown. Now they roamed around the outlands and occasionally came back into the pridleands only to be attacked by the pride. To go after them now though wasn't much of a good idea. The entire pride had been exhausted looking for Hofu in vain. If they were going to leave the pridelands now fine, they will just be hit twice as hard next time they enter.

"Its late and everyone's exhausted right now Zazu. We'll just have to let them go this time." Simba said tiredly.

The whole pride was silent on the walk back to pride rock. Even the landscape seemed to be silently grieving for the loss of the pride's youngest member. The only thing heard were the occasional sobs from Sadia.

Everyone tried there best to give her comfort, to show her that life would go on, but they all new that all they could do was try to comfort her with empty words. As Sadia reached the den she found a spot to sleep, near the mouth of the den. She gazed into the night sky seeing the stars still bright as ever. A shooting star went across the sky. An omen that was aid to mean a king was watching you. Sadia took this opportunity.

"Oh great kings," she whispered to herself "Why Hofu? Why was his time cut so short? I just wish I could have been a better mother…" With that she went to sleep, tears still streaming down her muzzle.

* * *

Meanwhile far beyond pride rock, just outside the pridelands a small cub washed up along side a small river. The little brown furred cub was still alive and not bleeding, but looked as though he had been roughed up a little.

"Ohhhhh…." He stirred as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes to look around with his ice blue eyes. There was not much around him. Fortunetly for him he had washed up around thick brush conceling him from predators. The river wasn't large at all, only a couple of feet across. _What… happened?_ He though to himself. He got up, but then suddenly fell down from the skull splitting pain from his head. _Where am I? Who… am I?_ were his last thoughts before he fell unconscious, then to sleep.


	3. Reminiscences and plans

Hey everyone. I'm really, REALLY sorry for not updating the story in a while, but now I'm sure it will be updated almost regularly. If you have any comments or suggestions, or just stuff you think should be involved put them in a review, I'd love get a bit of advise.

All TLK characters appearing in this chapter are NOT mine. Mgeni, Hofu and Sadia ARE mine. please don't hurt me.

Chapter 3

Reminiscences and plans

Night was just giving way to morning in the pride lands. Everywhere creatures of the night were returning to their dens. The mother night owl had returned to her nest, with a fresh kill for her young. Chirping crickets had finished their nightly songs to prepare for the day ahead. The long grieving of the night settled into the morning fog. But one particular Mandrill had begun his day early, and slightly distressed.

Rafiki raced to the border of the Pridelands but where he was going he wasn't quite sure. Normally an animal would think that going to the edge of the Pridelands was somewhat reckless but as much as Rafiki didn't like it, he had to go none the less. _Why did he have to bring him to da outlands?_ Rafiki thought to himself as he jumped over a dead log. It was bad enough that he had already received news of another cubs death in the night. He did not want to have two in the same day. All he could do now was recall what happened and hope it wasn't to late mend a horrible mistake made earlier that night.

The sun had just begun to rise over the horizon, pouring sunlight onto the dark landscape around the river. The cub stirred as the light caused him to wake up. At first only senses of touch came back to him, it was wet…. Cold… mud…… his hearing came back to him after that…. A trickling sound…. Water… a river…. A small howl caused by something passing his ears… wind….. Then the feeling of his body returned to him. It felt as if his entire body had gone limp, aching with every twitch of his hears or the simple movement of a leg caused his body to whine in complaint of the action. He groaned as he opened his eyes to see a completely foreign landscape, and almost jumped up in surprise. The brown cub frantically looked through the brush but failed to find a single familiar landmark.

The savannah seemed to go on around him for miles without a single recognizable feature, trees rocks grass, everything about them seemed alien. He was almost certain that he had never seen the hills around him. Even the trees around him seemed foreign and hostile as they loomed overheard. As he continued to look, he noticed something else. There was a single animal around him, nothing moved except for the rustle of grass from the wind. He felt completely and hopelessly lost and alone until he looked to the east. The sun was coming over the dark horizon like a large orange disk. He felt relaxed as he watched its slow assent to the horizon.

The memory of the night before slowly came back to him slowly. He was on this riverbank, but something was a miss, he saw the riverbank in the darkness, he saw everything that was now before him…. But there was nothing else from his memory. Nothing before the riverbank… no other memory at all, nothing but a empty void filled his head. _What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything? _He thought to himself, confused and a little concerned about his memoies.

The cub tried his best to remember what had happened, but everything was in a thick haze. He remembered feelings, he was submerged in water, fast water, and there was rain, freezing cold rain. As he tried harder to remember he heard a distant cry for help, and then everything went black, nothing else happened, just haze. _Whose voice was that? Was it someone I know?_ He asked himself.

The cub thought of anyone that would be in his memories, anything at all, but mostly trying to think of his family. All he encountered though was even more haze than before. He couldn't remember anyone, no friends that he had ever played with, no family that had raised him, no happy or sad times with his loved ones, nothing. They were all gone, like imprints in the sand washed away by the tide of the beach. All he remembered was there was something there, there was a family, and there were friends, but they were all a mystery to him. _But who are they, and who am I?_ He said to himself confused about everything.

He looked around and found the river that he had been listening to moments ago. The beams of the rising sun reflected of it as the water flowed slowly downstream, and out of the little world that was now all the cub knew. Slowly and carefully the cub stood up, this time there was little pain from his body as it moved, but his muscles still ached and groaned from misuse. He made his way toward the stream, stumbling more than once as he got used to walking again, remembering the basics piece by piece. Once he finally made his way to the stream he looked at his reflection. A small brown feline looked back at him in wonder. _…..lion….._ said a thought that passed through his head. He tested the image, opening and closing his mouth, blinking once or twice, each time the image did the same thing.

_Is that me?_ He thought to himself, unsure if the image was real. He took in every detail of the image in the river. The brown fur and cream fur on its muzzle, chest and belly, long whiskers, ice blue eyes. _Yes! _He declared. _That is me, but, what's my name? I have a name right? _The cub was perplexed at his own question. He was sure he had a name, he was almost sure of it, but it was as if he had misplaced it. He tried to search through his memories once again and encountered the same haze, but for some reason it wasn't quite as thick as it was before, something was there, but it wasn't clear. He concentrated harder on his missing name. The cub winced at the pain developing in his head as the haze became clearer. He ignored it though and kept searching his memories.

"M… Mmmm… Mge… Mgeni!" He declared to his reflection, and also a little surprised by his own voice, "That's my name. Right? Yeah I'm sure of it."

Mgeni was relieved to find out that at least a little of his memory was still with him. A name, his name, and he would keep it. He looked around himself hoping something looked familiar to him with his new memory, but as he looked he realized that everything was exactly the way it was before. He let out a frustrated groan.

"So my name is Mgeni… but who is my mother, or my father, and the rest of my family?" He suddenly caught himself wondering out loud about his mysterious family again. Was there a large family, was it a pride, or were his parents' merely rogues. If they were rogues did they just care about him? Were they worried he was missing, and desperately looking for him, or did they abandon him, just to let him die out here in the savannah. The cub took in a small breath his imagination's conclusion. _No No! They cared for me I'm absolutely sure they did, didn't they?_ He thought as he brought himself back to reality.

He kept thinking about the subject though, now unable to get it out of his head. Did he have any brother, or sisters? If so, what were they like? Where was his home, and what did it look like, or did he have one at all? Just as he began to think about his home an image took shape in his mind. He was on top of a tall rock overlooking a small rocky canyon, the wind wiping on his face. A small but familiar tree was at the top of it, shading him from the sun and heat. The image looked down where he saw a mouth of a cave nearby at the bottom of the canyon wall. The image ended as quickly as it began, leaving Mgeni back on the riverbank. There was no question in Mgeni's mind though, that was home, maybe it was his, maybe it wasn't, but it was home.

Mgeni wanted to know more about his past but nothing else came to him. _Come on, where is that place, who are my parents, something, anything. _The cub thought to himself. He concentrated again on his memoires, to find the haze still there as thick as ever. Mgeni didn't care though, he had to know. He concentrated as hard as he could on his memories. The pain returned quickly to his head as sharp as a knife. Mgeni cried in pain as he fell onto the sand of the shore.

"Its no good, this hurts way too much." He wined. The pain slowly ebbed away as he stopped concentrating on the memory. Mgeni got up slowly unsure if the pain would return.

"So I _do_ have a home, but where is it?" he asked himself. Mgeni tried to think of any way to fix his situation, but it all came down to the same fact, he was completely lost. _It could be anywhere, what do I do? Where do I even start? _Fear began to take its hold around him as he gazed out into the savannah. A morning bird call nearby nearly made the cub jump out of his skin. It was then he realized that he was not as alone as he thought he was.

The world around him seemed to come to life with new sounds as the sun cleared the horizon. Birds began chirping as they flew over, searching for their morning meal. Two small mice jumped out of the brush in front of Mgeni. Mgeni's attention quickly came to the two small rodents that were surprised by the appearance of this formidable predator. Mgeni's fear subsided as he stared at them, wondering why they had came out from there safety when they could have been certainly killed. They stared at Mgeni for seconds before registering him as not a threat. The mice quickly ran to the water's side and took a drink. Afterwards they quickly ran back into the safety of the brush and out of the only part Mgeni's known world.

It all made sense to Mgeni now. Even though the mice were scared to death of him and uncertain if they would live, they still needed that water. They needed to survive even if it meant they were afraid of a predator. _Or something like that._ Mgeni joked to himself. He straightened himself out. Those mice gave him a lesson that he would definitely use. He had to try to live, even if that meant doing something he was scared to do.

"I'm going to find out what happened to me," He told himself out loud, "not just me, but also I'm going to find out whom my family is, and where my home is. It's a promise." Mgeni swore that he would not forget this. He just hoped he would find them all as soon as possible.

The first thing he planned to do was find high ground. From there he concluded that he would have the best chance at spotting a familiar landmark. He was sure he couldn't have gone to far from wherever he was before he lost his memories. Mgeni scanned the savannah around him. He spotted a large rocky hill in the distance with trees at the top. The cub hesitated once he first saw it. It was certainly tall enough to see the land, but it was so far away, and he had no idea could be in between him and that hill. Mgeni forced that thought out of his head, frustrated with himself for hesitating. He had to go to that hill and he knew it, it was the only way for him to find his home.

Rafiki had looked around the western border of the pridelands for what seemed like hours to him. The sun had already gotten halfway to the top of the sky and he still had not found the heart that Mufasa had selected to help him in his plans. _Be patient old Rafiki, tat heart will show itself when da time is right. _He told himself. He looked around himself, nothing but a few gazelle running through the grass had revealed themselves to him.

A small breeze began to blow from the east. Rafiki looked into the direction of the breeze to see a large rocky hill. The shaman grinned in confidence. "It won't be long now." He chuckled.

Mgeni had almost reached the top of the hill. The sun was now high in the sky and the temperature had almost skyrocketed with it. Mgeni looked to the lush green trees and their inviting shade. It seemed like it took him all day to get to the hill, but he was almost there, and he was proud of it. _I actually made it. _He thought to himself. He began to doubt if himself half way, but now he couldn't feel a little dumb of himself for thinking that.

The cub was exhausted when he finally made it to the trees. He was thankful for the cool breeze he felt. He quickly looked around the top of the hill to see past the trees. His mouth hung open at the sight in front of him. Before his eyes was a small watering hole in the middle of the hill. The watering hole had been filled with rainwater as if it was like a giant bowl n the hill. Trees had grown around it which now had become home for many birds. A large hawk flew overhead scouting for prey to eat. Not to far from Mgeni an amphibious lizard crawled into the water. Luckily for Mgeni he saw no large animals around to harm him.

Mgeni didn't waist a single moment to take a drink from the large pool of water. It was surprisingly cool from the shade of the trees. Mgeni quickly drank his fill. As he drank Mgeni heard movement in the trees. At first he took as nothing but one of the many birds, but suddenly branches in the tree right above him began to shake as something moved through them. Mgeni quickly ran into the short brush around the watering hole, surprised at the sound. Minutes passed with no sound made before Mgeni thought it was safe to come back out of the brush. Slowly and carefully he came out, eyes on the trees the entire time. Nothing moved the only sounds made were the random chirps of birds around the area.

Mgeni moved out of the trees prepared to scan the landscape for anything that even looked slightly familiar. He could see for miles around him. Distant mountains lined the horizon. The savannah looked like its lush green surface touched almost every part of the landscape in front of him. Far in the distance he saw a heard of elephants moving closer to a small watering hole. It all looked nice to Mgeni, but as he kept looking he became more agitated. Nothing looked even slightly familiar to him. He couldn't see a familiar valley, nor could he see anything that even looked remotely like the image in his mind. Mgeni's heart sank as he gave up scanning the landscape.

"Just where am I?" Mgeni asked himself in a pitiful voice.

"Da question tis not where you are, but where are you going little one." A voice said from behind him.

Mgeni yelped in surprise as he quickly turned to face the first creature to speak to him. He saw a large mandrill hanging upside down from a vine giving him a comforting smile. Mgeni found himself cowering in front of the mandrill as he got down from the vine to face him. The mandrill made a surprised look to see the cub afraid of him, but that look quickly became a comforting smile. "Da name is Rafiki. What's you're my young friend?" Rafiki asked in a friendly voice.

Mgeni hesitated once again. He quickly realized that not only were conversations not one his strong points, but he severely lacked much of the social grace when talking to strangers that many people naturally had. "M… Mgeni." He said in a small voice.

"So what seems to be da ting disturbing you," Rafiki asked "and don't lie, its written all over your face." The last comment Rafiki meant to make more of a tease, but it seemed only dampened Mgeni's spirits.

"Well… I… err… you see…" Mgeni was at a loss for words as his eyes began to water. "I can't remember anything about me and well…" Mgeni sniffed as he tried to stop himself from showing emotions, "I've been trying to find my home but I don't know the way"

"Wrong!" Rafiki cheerfully said, "You know the way young one, even if it's left your head, its still in your heart. You're already on the path even if you don't see it." Rafiki smiled again to Mgeni, as his infectious cheerfulness began to rub off on the cub. "You see tat big rock way in da distance out dere?" Rafiki asked.

Mgeni squinted to see what the mandrill was talking about and the distance there was without a doubt a large rock formation. It must have been massive, like a small mountain. Mgeni could tell that at least part of it was covered in trees. "Yeah I think I see it, but I don't think that, I've ever seen that before…" He said. _Wait a second_. Something in his mind clicked. He was sure he had seen it before, it was strange though, like it was like it was from a dream. He couldn't remember how or when he saw it but that was something remotely familiar, and he was going to take it.

"Dat dere is pride rock," Rafiki said proudly "the king of the pridelands lives there. A mighty lion named Simba, and his pride reside dere. Who knows maybe dey could lead you to your home." Rafiki said, smiling as he grabbed his staff.

"A pride?" Mgeni repeated. _Wait. Maybe… could that be my home? I'm sure I had a family, not just a mom and dad. Maybe this Simba is my father. Wow, how amazing could that be, to have a king for a father…. _Mgeni thought to himself. He dared not speak it to Rafiki, it was true that the mandrill was kind to him, but he didn't want to tell his plans to a complete stranger. "I… um… thank you so much." Mgeni said gratefully to the shaman. "I'm glad to have met you."

"No need to tank me Mgeni, I'm sure we'll meet again." Rafiki said as he waved goodbye to the young cub. "Now get going, your home is waiting for you, where ever it may be. You will find it very soon."

The last words Rafiki said echoed in Mgeni's mind. _What did he mean by that?_ Mgeni did not dwell it for long. He had to keep moving to find his family. Like the Mandrill said his home was waiting for him, and he knew it was somewhere.

Rafiki chuckled as he watched the cub run of into the brush headed straight for Pride rock. He reflected on his encounter with the cub. _He seemed to be the silent shy type, good_. He thought to himself. _The cub dose indeed has much courage, and a strong heart. I see now why you chose him Mufasa. _But why tell the cub that? He was better living in ignorance over what Rafiki had planned for him. If he knew what was in store, he could probably end up becoming harder to handle.

At first he was worried at the young one's amnesia, but now he was sure that it would help both him and the cub more than anything else. "Everything s going to the plan…" he chuckled confidently as he began his own walk back to the tree of life to start the second part of his plan.

Well thats it for chapter three. If you have any comments, suggestions, or things your not clear on right a reveiw. I'd love to hear anything. I really could use tips on how to lenghten these chapters a bit to make them more interesting. Thanks you guys.


	4. Freinds in Danger

Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions and a bit of constructive criticism. It really helped in revising my chapters. Also thanks for continuing to read. I'm surprised that anyone is interested in my characters thanks everybody!

All Disney characters appearing in this story are NOT mine Mgeni, Sadia, Hofu, and the Hyena trio (NOT Shenzi, Banzi, and Ed) ARE mine.

Chapter 4

Friends in Danger

Priderock was basked in the afternoon sunlight as the lionesses settled back into the daily business of the pride. Nala had already assembled a hunting party of six for the prides meal of the day.

Near the base of Priderock the lionesses not headed out on the hunting trip stayed to take care of the few cubs of the pride. It was normal routine for the lionesses, keeping them entertained, cleaning them, and above all, keeping a close eye on them so nothing like the night before would repeat itself.

The few cubs that lived in the pride played with each other as the lionesses watched them in the distance. The cubs were ignorant of the fate that befell there their youngest playmate. Kiara on the other hand sat on the rocks next to her grandmothers, Sarabi, and Sarafini. She looked out to her mother as lead the hunting party into the savannah for what was undoubtedly going t be a long day of hunting. She wished she could go with them.

She looked back to the other cubs playing in the shade of Priderock. She sighed as she watched them play. The other cubs were always friendly to her, but were always hesitant around her, as if they were expecting something from her, just her father, and the royal bloodline. Because of this she never felt comfortable to be around them. Usually they would stay around pride rock while she adventured out in the savannah by herself, but today the lionesses were keeping a close eye on her ad the rest of the cubs. Frustrated, she laid down as the cubs began to play a game of lions and gazelles (it's like a game of tag). She wasn't in the mood to play with the other cubs today. All she could think about was that Kovu kid in the outlands. She could picture him now, his kind green eyes, his bravery in danger, and his cheerfulness. Maybe he didn't know how to play lions and gazelles or maybe he was just faking. He was probably the first person ever not to treat her as Kiara, the daughter of Simba and the princess of the pridleands, but just as a friend. _I wonder what he's doing now._ She thought to herself. He was the only cub she had ever known adventure out on his own, just like she had done those three days ago. _Will I ever see him again? _She asked herself.

"Kiara, what's wrong?" A concerned voice asked from beside her, dragging her back to reality. It was her grandmother Sarabi that she turned to. The old lioness looked down at Kiara with the same smile that she would give her son when he was Kiara's age. Sarabi had always been Kiara's favorite babysitter, but her age meant that she would usually just stay around Priderock instead of joining the young cub out in the savannah. When Kiara was younger she remembered how Sarabi would lead a hunting party, but those times had passed, had that duty had fallen to Kiara's mother. No one worried about the old queen's age though. She still had many years in the pridelands to come.

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking." Kiara answered trying to be as vague as possible, "just thinking about friends."

"Well why don't you stop thinking about them and go play with them." Sarafina teased her. She didn't realize how wrong she was though. She may have had friends among the cubs, but she had only one best friend, which she knew she may never meet again.

"Okay." Kiara accepted. She got off of the rock to enter the game. She knew that upon entering the game she would be a gazelle. If she was caught, she would then become one of the lions and have to chase another gazelle. She counted her opponents carefully. _One, two, three… wait, where's Hofu?_ Kiara was confused. Hofu would never miss watching the other cubs play a game like this. He was too young to play with them, but was always nearby, wanting to join in on the fun. But now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him all day.

Kiara turned around to face Sarabi. "Grandma Sarabi, where's Hofu?" She asked with a confused look. For possibly the first time in her life, Kiara thought she actually saw fear in the old lioness's eyes, but it had only lasted for a second before it disappeared.

"He's with your grandfather now." Sarafina interrupted, "Don't worry about him, he's fine."

"Hmm? I don't understand." Kiara said confused at what her grandmother had just told her. She new that Mufasa passed away but how could a young healthy cub be with him? He was far from old age, and he was too young to leave Priderock at all never mind unsupervised. He was completely safe under the protection of his mother Sadia. It just didn't make sense to Kiara.

"You'll understand when you're older." Sarabi answered reassuringly. She nuzzled her granddaughter caringly.

"Grandma Sarabi, where's my daddy?" Kiara asked, "Can I go see him?"

"Of course you can sweetie. I believe he's on top of Priderock right now." Sarabi said as she turned to look at the tip of the rock formation. Sure enough Simba was there, looking as if he was deep in thought.

"Okay, thanks Grandma Sarabi." Kiara said. She quickly ran up the trail to meet her father.

Sarabi waited till she was sure that Kiara was out of earshot. She turned to her old friend Sarafina with slight concern. "Do you think that Simba will tell her the truth?" she asked.

"So what if he dose?" Sarafina replied. "She is going to have to deal with the facts of life sooner or later. Death happens, there's nothing we can do about that. My daughter had to deal with it at her age as well."

"Yes," Sarabi agreed. She recalled that night which now seemed like a lifetime ago. Scar's eulogy had been a heavy and emotional to everyone, but none more than Sarabi. In a flash her entire life had disappeared as Scar announced her husband and son's death. Never again did she ever think she would see their faces, never to see her son with his carefree smile, and pure joy. All those years apart had nearly torn Sarabi apart inside. "I just hope she is strong enough to take it."

* * *

Simba looked out to his kingdom from the edge of Priderock, the savannah laid before him in the afternoon sun. The watering hole could be seen in the distance, busy with herds of animals satisfying their thirst in the sun. Below him he could see the lionesses left to look after the cubs, watching them play their games. He looked to the eastern hills to where Timon and Pumbaa would usually be looking for grubs. Ever since the trio had left the jungle, Timon and Pumbaa quickly found out that the prideland's supply of bugs was not as vast as their original home, but there were still many to go around, even if they had to challenge the local birds for their meals. The day seemed to be perfect to Simba, just like the one so long ago, when danger seemed so far away. He began to lose himself in his memories.

Flashback

"Now remember Kopa, stay away from the borders, the hyenas have been very aggressive lately." Simba lectured son, "and the sun won't stay in the sky forever, you'll need to get back before sundown." Simba had every bit of confidence in his only son's abilities.

"Yes father." Kopa agreed obediently. Kopa had been very excited for this moment, Simba could tell, the day that he would be able to venture in the pridleands on his own. Fortunately the cub was much more patient than his father was at his age. Simba watched as the cub ran off of Priderock, and stare at the savannah slightly intimidated by its vast size.

"And Kopa," Simba called, "Don't forget to have fun!" Simba could already see the courage he had given his son. Kopa looked back and gave him his confident and carefree smile. It was always his way of saying everything was going to all be ok in the end. It always seemed to the pride that Kopa always smiled even in the bad times. It had always given the lionesses a bit of happiness.

Simba grinned in return to his son as he watched him run off into the pridelands. Simba wasn't worried about his safety for a moment. Zazu had a distinct knack for keeping his eyes on cubs, as well as the many other subjects of the pridelands. As long as Kopa stayed away from the borders, and the hyenas he was completely fine just like he was at Kopa's age. There were no threats in the pridelands for a lion, and Simba made sure that it stayed that way.

"He's always been a brave cub, Simba. One of the bravest I've seen anyway" A voice said behind Simba. Nala walked up and sat down beside him to watch there son's first adventure on his own. "He's so much like you, more than he knows." She said softly.

"Yeah," Simba chuckled. Kopa was a favorite of the prides cubs. He was always naturally kind to others and so ready to please everyone, as if he was expected to, and he would always try his best to do what was expected of him.

Simba looked at her with slight concern. "Shouldn't you stay inside the den for now?" Simba asked. Nala was pregnant again with there second child. Simba was acting the same way he was when she was pregnant with Kopa, worried for her safety, along with the cubs.

"Oh Simba, calm down, I'll be fine." Nala reassured him, along with a nuzzle. "Besides, a little sun will do me some good."

Simba submitted defeat. There was no way he could convince her otherwise to stay inside the den. He decided he might as well enjoy her company for the time being. Simba looked down to see the lionesses all going about there daily business, none seemed to notice Kopa leave. Little did Simba know though, Zira watched closely with her only cubs. There were three of them, one was older than Kopa, and two of them had been born were almost as old as Kopa, though they were still too young to talk. Her eyes were completely locked on to the young price as he set out for his adventure. Weeks later, this fact had indeed reached Simba, but at the cost of his son's life.

End Flashback

Simba looked back to the lionesses watching the cubs. Life in the Prdielands seemed to have changed so quickly since then, but right now it seemed nothing had changed. The lionesses still happily went with their duties, cubs still played their little games, and the food supply was strong. Sure faces had changed since then; the cubs playing now had no idea who Kopa was. It was too early for them to remember. The only thing different from those days was the number of those faces, there were so few compared to what it had been, now a little over half were still here. _Now there's two less faces… _Simba thought sadly.

"Father, I'm lost. Our pride is in danger again" Simba said, "These Hyenas are attacking more often now that Zira and the others have left. There are only half of us left to defend each other. What should be done, how am I to lead them now?"

Simba waited for an answer, and was slightly surprised to get and answer. Though it was not at all what he expected. He heard foot steps running toward him, they were small but moving quickly. He turned around to see what was causing the disturbance.

"Daddy! I knew you'd be up here." Kiara called as she raced up beside him. She certainly had wasted no time to reach Simba. The cub was almost completely out of breath. She looked up to him and grinned, almost like Kopa had, long ago.

"What's going on Kiara, did you want to go on your mothers hunt again." Simba asked. It was just like Simba to ask those questions, he had become more worrisome of his only child.

"No daddy it's not that. I was just wondering, where's Ms. Sadia, and Hofu? I haven't seen either of them all day." Kiara asked. She got the same split second glimpse of fear from her father as she did with her grandmother. "What's wrong daddy, did something happen to them?"

Simba turned away from Kiara to look at the landscape again. There was a brief silence as Simba contemplated the answer to Kiara's questions. He knew that he couldn't shield her from the facts of life no matter how much he wanted to. "Kiara, I'm sorry, but Hofu passed away last night." Simba said, trying to be as brief as possible. She did not need to know the details, he could spare her that.

"What!? But he was younger than me! He can't be dead." Kiara replied in confused shock.

"Kiara, remember how I said that our time here is like the rising and setting of the sun, unfortunately sometimes the sun sets on a person's life sooner than we expect." Simba tried his best to lighten the blow.

Kiara listened as the shock wore off and was replaced with sadness. She knew Hofu better than most of the other cubs. Sometimes Kiara would help Sadia take care of him when she was busy. Kiara felt as if the cub was like a younger brother to her.

"Kiara, I know it's hard to lose the ones we care about, but we must move on with our own lives." Simba reassured her, "They may be gone from our sight, but they are still with us even today, just in a different place."

Kiara didn't want to hear her father's reassurances though. She knew now that her playmate, and friend was gone, and he was never coming back. Kiara's head hung low as she finally grasped these facts. She just wanted to shut the world out while she dealt with it. "Okay. Umm… daddy? Is it okay if I go back to the den now?"

"Of course Kiara," he said soothingly. Simba knew it would probably be best for her. She wanted to be left alone for a while, just the way he had at her age. "Its getting late in the day anyway, and your mother will be coming back with a meal soon."

Simba watched as his daughter as she trudged away into the den. He knew it was going to be hard for her. It was the first time she had to deal with death, which was never easy to deal with. Simba looked out to the Savannah again. The sun was almost halfway to the horizon now; night would be here soon enough. Simba looked to the distance, and as he predicted the hunters were returning, and by the looks of it, with a fresh antelope kill. It didn't seem like allot, but it would keep the pride's bellies full through the night. Simba looked back to the den. _Hopefully she'll be fine by tomorrow…_

* * *

Mgeni stirred as he woke up groggily. He looked around to find himself in a dirt den he had found to spend the night in. It wasn't a very large den at all, probably made by meerkats or something else, either way it was a somewhat tight fit for Mgeni who had chosen it to hide from predators while he slept. There must have been a colony here at one time because it seemed the entire area was filled with these holes in the ground, but Mgeni was not going to complain about them any time soon. He felt a little cramped and a little claustrophobic but it appeared that the den had concealed him well for the night.

He crawled towards the hole to poke his head his out. The brush around this area had thinned out and clumped together in large patches. There were almost no trees in this area though which confused Mgeni, but he soon forgot this as he spotted his destination in the distance. The place that monkey told him about, Priderock, was illuminated in the mid morning sun.

He looked back to the east to see how far he had gone since yesterday afternoon. He had traveled all the afternoon and half the night, but it appeared that he was still at least a half day away from his destination. Mgeni squeezed out of the hole and prepared for the rest of the journey. _Mom and Dad must be worried sick about me… well I hope so anyway. _The cub thought to himself as he managed to get his final foot out of the mouth of the den. _If only I was older, I probably could have run all the way there and already have been home._ Mgeni quickly put that thought aside. He hated to make an excuse, even if the excuse was true.

His thoughts though were interrupted when he heard what sounded like thunder. The only strange thing was that it seemed to be coming from the ground. Mgeni looked into the direction that the sound was coming from. He was surprised to see a large cloud of smoke close to the ground racing to his direction. Mgeni froze in terror as he saw what was coming at him, large black and white horses, allot of them. The cub realized that he was in danger, but his legs seemed as if they had frozen in place. He looked around for a way to escape, and after a second found his little hole in the ground. He quickly slipped back into it and back to safety as hooves thundered across the landscape in front of it. Mgeni watched the horses thundering dangerously close by him. It was then that he realized that the vibrations in the den weren't from those horses, but that he was shaking like a leaf. He looked out of the hole after the sounds of hooves had diminished. As he looked out of the safety of the den e saw one of them no more than a couple yards away. _What are those things called again?_ He looked through his mind once again to find the answer. _Their zebra!_ He said in his mind triumphantly. He the realized why this area was so flattened out, and whatever was here had moved out. These zebra used this pace to graze.

It was then that Mgeni realized he had a new problem, those zebra might hurt him, or even kill him if he showed himself t them. The realization made him nervous, but he new he had to keep moving, just like those mice did when they saw him. His mind went over the all scenarios he could think of and finally decided he would just have to be silent as he tried to avoid the herd. As quickly and silently as he could, he slipped out of the hole and dashed to a nearby patch of brush. He looked to the zebras to see if they were coming after him, but it seemed very few had noticed anything was amiss in the brush.

Mgeni took a moment to take pride in getting halfway away from the zebras, and then continued his escape. Although he had not realized the main reason was because his light brown fur had almost completely matched the color of the overturned dirt. He looked to the direction of Priderock. A hill was in the way, it was small but it would conceal Mgeni long enough to get away from the herd. Mgeni dashed over the hill, no longer caring about the amount of noise he created till he was finally over the hill. The move was a little reckless in his mind, but it worked just fine, the zebras did not notice him leave and continued their grazing.

Mgeni was ecstatic that one of his own plans had actually worked, but as he continued his way towards Priderock he started to dwell on other things. _I forgot what zebras were till I saw them. How much _have _I forgotten? Will I continue to remember things like this?_ Little did he know that as he thought about his memories three pairs of eyes from the other side of the herd had been watching him intently as he escaped.

* * *

"Oh another cub in just two days, how lucky can ya get!" One of the voices whispered to the others.

"Don't move Mishinde, if it gets a whiff of us our plan is ruined, and I doubt you'll want to be the one to tell Hasimu why we didn't get this one too." The other voice spat.

"Oh who cares about the plan? We already have one, and this one looks a bit old anyway Kifo. I say its time for some good old fashioned payback on those pridelanders." The third voice suggested. Her voice was full of hate as she uttered pridelanders.

"Yeah I agree with Masihara, so common let's just kill it!" Mishinde snarled in anticipation. He quickly ran through the brush after the brown lion cub.

Masihara and Kifo quickly followed him as he crossed the path of the zebra. The zebra neighed in surprise as the male hyena jumped out of the brush, but were suddenly confused as it didn't even attempt to chase a single one as they fled from the area. _What is this fool doing? _Kifo wondered. _He's going to get all three of us killed just over his stupid personal vengeance if those lions find out we're here._ She didn't have time to call Masihara off though. He was far to close to the cub to say a word without scaring it off. _This is it then we'll just kill him._

* * *

Mgeni continued walking until he heard a cry from one of the zebra far behind him now. He turned expecting to see the zebra running straight toward him again, but instead saw movement in the brush behind him coming in his direction quickly. Mgeni paused for a second to figure out what was following him. He quickly got an answer though. A large black furred dog came hurtling out of the grass after him, followed by two others. Mgeni didn't even have to think of what they were, it seemed almost instinctual._ Hyenas!? _

Mgeni's entire body began to pump with adrenaline as he sprinted as fast as he could to escape his pursuers. He headed directly for Priderock. He didn't care how far it was. It was the only hope of safety he could think of under his new found stress. He ran as fast as he could, unfortunately the hyenas were quicker. The first one was already on to of him before he could get over the next hill. The hyena snapped at his hind legs causing him to stumble and role down the slope. Mgeni stopped and ducked quickly causing the first hyena to overshoot him, but the other two were not too far behind, and they seemed to be much more intelligent than the first.

Mgeni quickly turned right to avoid his two new assailants. There was no way he could even think to fight theses predators. The only chance he had was to keep running. Fear was the only thing guiding him. All other reasoning had left his mind. He searched for any type of safety.

The two other hyenas came at Mgeni quickly, the first attacker followed behind. These two attacked in a team. They quickly knocked Mgeni to the ground without much trouble, but didn't act quickly enough to catch cub as he rolled to the side. He quickly slid onto all fours. It was pure luck, Mgeni wasn't sure how he managed to slip by them but he wasn't thinking about it, he was just thinking of living.

Mgeni continued his renewed sprint managing to take advantage of the pause from the hyenas as they tried to figure out how the cub was lucky enough to get away from the two. The third hyena was still on his tail, and gaining quickly. Mgeni searched for anything to use as safety. He surprised to find another hole in the ground. He wasted no time as he changed direction for a dead sprint towards it. This was a gamble, he wasn't sure how large the den was, or how small the hole was.

The brown cub just narrowly managed to slide into the hole as Mishinde snapped at his legs once again, this time almost taking Mgeni's tail with him. Upon entering the hole Mgeni found it was not a den at all, but a tunnel.

"Come here you little sack a meat so I can rip out your throat!" an angry voice behind him yelled.

Mgeni didn't waste another second to move further down the tunnel, he wasn't sure where it went, but anywhere was better than where he was. He crawled his way down the tunnel, leaving behind what seemed like arguing voices above him. _Just what's going on? Why are they after me so bad? _Mgeni though as he continued. The tunnel seemed to get less cramped as he continued crawling through it to the point where he could start walking. Whatever was here originally must have been big, it was like an entire colonies home. The tunnel continued to go on in almost complete darkness, occasionally Mgeni heard a noise or rumble right above his head, but all he new was that it was above ground, where it couldn't get him, he hoped. The cub passed a final den before he saw daylight again. He was relieved as soon as he saw the tunnel had a second opening, and he rushed towards it. The light was inviting as Mgeni poked his head out. The hyenas were nowhere in front of him, and better yet Priderock seemed not to far way from here.

"There you are you squirt!" Yelled a voice behind him. Mgeni yelped as the first hyena came down upon him. He quickly ducked back inside the tunnel and began to turn around. He did not get far before he was stopped again by another one of the hyenas. She had dug her way into the tunnel from above, now she was staring right at Mgeni with hungry eyes.

"Don't worry little kitty, it wont hurt for _that_ long." She chuckled menacingly as she made her way toward Mgeni. Mgeni backed away falling into the small den connected to the tunnel. It was too small for the hyena to crawl through Mgeni realized. He was safe, but he was also trapped. It was then Mgeni heard something, digging. The hyena was going to dig her way to him.

"Hurry up Kifo, kill him!" Whined Mishinde from above ground.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Kifo complained back to him.

Mgeni looked around for any hope of escape. There was nothing around him. He moved as close as he could to the wall opposite of the entrance. It was then the noticed the wall chipping dirt. He regained his mentality and looked at the wall. It seemed to be thin here to the outside. Mgeni started clawing at it desperately, hitting against it with all his might. On the third try the wall began to slowly collapse, he hit it one last time and the wall completely collapsed reviling open air on the other side of a steep slope. Mgeni couldn't stop himself from tumbling down the hillside, parts of the dirt wall tumbled with him all the way down the steep slope.

"He broke out!" he heard Mishinde call to the other two.

Mgeni wasted no time to let the two hyenas resume the chase with him. He ran quickly into the brush, but was suddenly knocked off his feet with incredible force. His entire body hit the side of a small boulder sending his world spinning in swirling colors.

"Don't tell me you already forgot about me." Masihara said arrogantly.

"Good you got him." Said another one, but Mgeni couldn't tell who it was. His entire world was spinning and getting dark. The last thing he saw were three shadows overhead before his entire world went dark.

* * *

Well thats it for chapter 4. Sorry for leaving it at such a cliff hangar, (I tend to do that). If you have any questions, comments or tips (ESPECIALLY TIPS PLEASE) please wright a reveiw. I could still use some tips for story making. Thanks guys.


	5. Lost and Found

Once again sorry for the long wait. I can't wait for school to end then I hope I'll have more free time anywho Thanks for continuing to read.

All lion king characters appearing in this story are NOT mine, Sadia, Mgeni, Hofu and the hyena trio (NOT Shenzi, Banzi, and Ed) ARE mine. Please don't hurt me

* * *

Chapter 5

Lost and Found

The hunting party moved quickly through the heart of the pridelands. The six lionesses were completely silent as to avoid frightening off possible prey in the area.

Nala scanned the grass ahead of her, but was disappointed at what she saw. Normally the pridelands were filled with many different herds, but today it seemed that most of them had not left the safety of the watering hole. The hunting party had been going since early morning with no luck for a large kill for the pride.

"Okay everyone, we'll need to fan out and cover more ground," Nala said to the six other lionesses, "Tell me if you find anything of interest. Sadia, you'll come with me."

"Right." Sadia responded confidently. Nala noticed that her strength had seemed to return to her since the other day. Yesterday she was completely crushed with the death of her son. She stayed in the den, sulking in misery, but today she seemed to be herself again. Nala knew this was only skin deep though, it had taken the queen herself what seemed like an eternity to come to terms with Kopa's death.

The other lionesses scattered into the brush in pairs. Nala and Sadia continued forward looking for any sine of a heard. She glanced at Sadia from the corner of her eye, wondering what she was thinking. The green eyed lioness seemed totally focused o the task at hand, scanning the landscape for any straggling wildebeest or gazelle unfortunate enough to be alone. Nala couldn't guess what was going through her head, but she thought it better than to ask. Sadia seemed have shut the world out of her mind trying not to feel anything at all.

They continued searching for what seemed like an hour, their luck still not getting anywhere until Nala heard a whisper from beside her. "Hey, Nala," Sadia whispered, "Look to the east, there's a heard of zebra grazing not to far away."

Sure enough there was an entire heard not to far off in the distance, oblivious to the lionesses. It was the best news that they had all day. If they could get two or three of them, it would leave enough food to feed the pride for possibly two to three days. Now came the hard part, killing three. Nala was still overjoyed to see this though.

"Good job Sadia," Nala congratulated her, "Now let's get the others, we'll need everyone for this to work."

It took Nala and Sadia very little time to round up the rest of the hunting party. They made sure that they would not spread out to far as they searched.

"Ok here's the plan," Nala declared "we'll split up in to three groups of two and try surrounding them from three points. Mom and Sabini, you'll take them from the left, Sadia and Hatari, you'll be taking them from the right. We'll try to lead them into me and Habari where we'll make a surprise attack. Try not to get behind them; their kicks are powerful enough to break bone. Everyone wait for my signal"

With that everyone silently went into the brush to get into position. It wasn't quite so easy for the hunting party though. The brush was short and in many places non existent forma being trampled, which meant that they had to be very careful not to give themselves away. To make things more difficult the ground seemed to be littered with holes here and there, one of which Sarafina accidentally slipped her paw in, causing it to crumple around it. Sarafina paused as she slowly withdrew her paw, but the zebra didn't seem to notice the sound. They seemed to have their attention directed to another location away fro the lionesses. The rest of the lionesses took this advantage to get into their positions.

Nala crouched down low to the ground as she prepared to give the signal to attack. She was only three yards away from the two nearest zebras, which was idly biting into the grass in front of him. The second seemed to be looking toward the direction of priderock as if its gaze was following something. Both had no idea of her presence or how close they were to certain death.

Nala was just about to give the signal when a peculiar scent made her pause. She couldn't believe what her nose had picked up. _A cub, out here? _There was no doubt of it in her head, it was a lion cub, but she did not see it anywhere. She looked into the direction form which the scent had come from, only to see a relatively small hole, just barley big enough for a cub. The hole seemed to reek with the scent of the cub. Nala peered just barely above the grass line in hopes to spot the cub, but she could only see the zebras. She continued to look until she spotted a sudden movement in the grass on the other side zebras. _Wait a second, Sadia and Hatari aren't there._

"Nala, what's wrong?" Harabi whispered from behind her.

Nala didn't get a chance to tell her though. The zebras suddenly neighed in surprise as a hyena darted out of the grass in front of them, causing mass panic among the zebras. The rest of the hunting party took this opportunity to attack though. Sadia and Hatari leaped out of the grass at the nearest zebra and dug the claw deep in its throat and back. The zebra didn't have dint to react s its throat was torn open killing it almost instantly. Sarafina and Sabini also quickly brought down kill of there own bleeding it to death by cutting open an artery.

The zebras were completely panicked by the sudden attack by the hunting party along with the sudden appearance of hyenas. A stamped quickly erupted from the mass chaos. The lionesses quickly fell back and regrouped to figure out what had just happened.

"How on earth did they know we were here?" Sarafina asked as she quickly brushing off the blood dripping from her paw.

"They didn't, look!" Nala pointed in the direction of priderock. Three hyenas were running towards the very heart of the pridelands, but why Nala couldn't guess what reason they had. This had never happened before. If the hyenas had ever come during the day they would always stay close to the border until they nightfall. Never had they been this reckless before.

A low growl erupted from beside Nala. She looked to see Sadia glaring angrily at the hyenas. "What are we waiting for," Sadia spoke up, "let's go after them." Nala noticed that Sadia's anger had swelled as soon as she saw the intruders. Nothing was going to stand in her way and Nala knew it.

"Alright then, let's go!" Nala agreed. Not only was it her duty as queen to confront these intruders, but she knew that it was time to put the mourning of Hofu to rest for Sadia.

* * *

The three hyenas gathered around the cub crumpled at the base of the small boulder. The cub had proven to be more of a nuisance to catch than any of them thought possible for such a young lion.

"Good, you got him." Kifo said as she and Mishinde approached Masihara. Masihara made a toothy grin to her.

"I don't see why you two had so much trouble with this little runt. He just got lucky is all." Masihara said arrogantly.

"Well _you _didn't twist your leg when he ducked under you like I did. Darn cub" Mishinde cursed. "Now I don't even get the pleasure of killing him." It was then that Kifo and Masihara noticed the sloth in Mishinde's steps. Both began to silently laugh at his misfortune. The cub must have had good timing in causing Mishinde to trip up. He probably would have to stay off of it for a few days.

"Relax will you. He's not dead, just unconscious." Kifo said as she inspected the cub. Sure enough Mgeni's chest was rising and falling as he took small, shallow breaths. The cub seemed to be much more resilient than he had let on. "_We_ aren't that stupid."

"To bad," Masihara began, "I would have loved to slowly suffocate him while he begged for mercy. Killing him while unconscious takes all the fun out of it." Masihara was staring down at the cub with her trademark toothy grin. She always enjoyed killing, even more if it happened to be a lion.

"Alright, you both had your fun." Kifo stated "Now les take him back to Hasimu, he'll love to see this one."

"No." Mishinde said suddenly as he approached the cub, lying peacefully on the ground, "Like Masihara said earlier this one looks to old. Besides what Hasimu doesn't know won't hurt him." He looked down at the cub in smoldering anger. _To think, you were such a thorn in my side. Just like your kin, who killed my future. It doesn't matter though. No ones going to save you now._ Mishinde drew his claws to Mgeni's neck. Finding an artery was no hard task for him. Sure he would love to have the cub slowly suffocate, but while unconscious the only pleasure he would have would be to watch the cub bleed to death.

Just as he was about to put his claws onto the helpless cubs neck though, he was suddenly bated to the ground by Kifo. "Who do you think you are?" Kifo snarled at him. "I'm still in charge here, and I say we're taking him back to Hasimu now!" Kifo never tolerated being disobeyed by others. Mishinde looked back at Kifo in silent anger. He wanted vengeance, and that was all. He didn't care what plans Hasimu had, but he wasn't about to risk a fight with one of his own clan members about it.

"Fine." Mishinde responded. He was defeated he knew it.

"Well, since we're all in agreement," Masihara began "then lets go back and" She was suddenly cut off as a lioness had jumped from the grass, pinning her making an intimidating roar. She had been effectively pinned at the neck.

Kifo and Mishinde didn't fare much better than she did. They snarled as a cream colored lioness knocked them off their feet. Quickly Kifo tried to retaliate but was forced her to the ground as the lioness held a paw on her neck. Mishinde couldn't even get up because of sprained leg never mind the lioness that had tackled him. They were completely at the mercy of the lionesses.

"What do you three think your doing in the pridelands?" Their leader said as she glared at them. It didn't take the hyenas even a second to realize who she was. It was Nala, queen of the pridelands herself. The queen was never happy to see a hyena, but today she seemed particularly upset about them.

"Pffft, like we'd tell you." Mishinde mumbled in frustration. He was rewarded with a bat to the face by Hatari. He did'nt care though, he still kept his eyes on the cub that seemed to mock his previous attempts at the cub's life with every breath he took.

"We haven't eaten in days," Kifo lied, "We were desperate for food enough to come here."

"I'm not going to toy with your lies," Nala growled at the hyena, "You know our laws. Do you expect me to believe you would come this far in the pridelands just to acquire food?"

"My, my, your highness," Masihara said mockingly, "You've become quite touchy. Is it because of the cubs?" A low growl emanated from Sadia, "Well it's not our fault you don't keep on them. We just wanted to make sure you would no longer have to worry about keeping track of this one." She smirked as she looked at Mgeni.

"This one?" Nala repeated, puzzled by the hyena. She followed Masihara's gaze. Nala took a small breath as she saw the brown cub lying at the base of the small boulder. Sadia and Sarafina rushed to the cub's side, checking to see if he was alive.

"Its okay, he's just unconscious." Sarafina declared. The whole hunting party seemed to give a sigh of relief. It was only then that Nala realized the tension that had been made just for this mysterious cub.

"That's good news." Nala sighed in relief.

Mishinde looked at the cub at the cub in boiling anger. _That little…_ "He'll be dead soon enough!" he snarled in fury. Mishinde burst to his feet with all his might, toppling over a surprised Hatari. The surprised lioness was forced to the ground. _I hate them, I hate them all!_ Mishinde quickly bolted toward the cub ignoring the sharp pain his leg gave him in protest. _They killed my love, my mate, and my only chance for my child and happy life!_ He towered over Mgeni aiming for his throat. "Now I'm going to take yours!" he barked.

Sadia quickly looked down to the cu, completely oblivious to his own death. Her reflexes suddenly kicked in. Sadia put all of her strength into her swipe. She connected with the back of Mishinde's head with a loud crack. Mishinde crumpled to the ground eyes completely open. The hunting part became completely silent as they stared at the body of the once vengeful Mishinde.

Nala looked at the other two hyenas. They glared back at her in quiet anger of their fallen pack mate. Her decision had been made up as she turned to Harabi and Sabini who had the hyenas pinned. "Alright, let them go, we're now even." The two lionesses obeyed their queen with complete trust as they let their captives go. Kifo and Masihara quickly moved into defensive positions with each other unsure if Nala would keep her word. "Send a message to your leader," Nala said as she turned back to face them. "If even one more cub is threatened he will not be the last one to suffer this fate."

Kifo and Masihara looked at each other in slight astonishment. They didn't think that they would manage to get away with their lives. Neither wasted another second to escape the hunting part. It was not long at all before both were out of eye sight of the lionesses.

Nala was satisfied enough to see the hyenas go. She knew they weren't stupid enough to stay in the pridelands. With their detection the lionesses would be sure to be on guard for the next couple days. Her attention turned back to the little brown cub, still sleeping under the rock. _Who is this little guy? _She wondered as the rest of the lionesses inspected him. She became even more puzzled when she smelled his scent again. It was fresh, but for some reason there was no scent of a lioness on him at all. It was almost impossible for a cub to have managed to live alone without a mother, but here this cub was, completely alone in the wilderness.

"What should we do with him?" Sadia asked. "He doesn't look like he'll last much longer out here." It was true. On closer inspection Nala noticed that the cub had been bruised, scratched and bumped almost all over his body. Even more importantly it seemed to cub hadn't eaten in days. His ribs were becoming slightly visible under his chest.

Nala looked again at the cubs fur as well. _Brown fur? _she questioned herself. It wasn't extremely rare to find a brown lion cub, but it was certainly a bit unusual to have such a color.

"Alright." she declared. "Sadia and I will bring him to priderock. Simba will decide what we should do with him. Mom and everyone else, try to bring back those kills. I think we have a long day ahead of us."

The rest of the hunting party split up as they had planned. Sadia picked up the cub in her mouth. She noticed the cub begin to subconsciously purr as she held him in his mouth. She couldn't help but to begin to feel happy, it seemed the cub had an infectious joy that surrounded him. She turned toward priderock and followed Nala down the path. _This could be a long day indeed.  
_

* * *

Kifo and Masihara finished their sprint as soon as they crossed the border back to the outlands, still slightly suprised to escape with their lives. Kifo looked back into the direction of the pridelands, and where Mishindi had fallen._ Fool._ She thought to herself. Mishinde had always tried to avenge the death of his mate to the point where it had blinded him of everything else, but today it finally caught up with him. "Lets go." She said suddenly to Masihara.

"Back to the clan?" Masihara absentl suggested. The death of a clan member didn't bother her at all. She knew everything died eventually, and she enjoyed it even more when she was doing the killing. Losing a single person close to her seemed almost normal, but then again she practiced with that allot.

"Right," Kifo continued. "I think that Hasimu will be most interested in hearing that we found a _brown_ cub."

"Wait," Masihara said slighlty surprised, "you don't think-"

"Yup," Kifo cut her off, "I don't know for sure, but I'd bet Hasimu will want to knnow about any brown cubs anyway."

* * *

Sorry guys I'm getting a little tired so I'll stop right here. I'll get more done soon! (I hope)


	6. Reflecting the past Seeing the Future

Well here it is the much awaited chapter 6, sorry it took a little while.

All TLK characters appereing in this story are NOT owned by me. Mgeni, Sadia, and the Hyena trio (NOT Shenzi, banzi, and Ed) ARE owned by me.

Chapter 6

Reflecting the past

and seeing the future

A bright flash of lightning illuminated Mgeni's drenched face as thunder rumbled in the dark clouds overhead. The rain was coming down from above in a torrent which had completely soaked him to the bone. Mgeni paid attention to none of this though. He looked down the rocky valley and felt an icy chill as he watched the rising flood waters.

He returned his gaze back to the pride, still struggling to move up the mud covered slope below him. Mgeni became more agitated as he looked back to the flood waters. They were rising to fast compared to the slow pace of the pride.

"Come on!" Mgeni called, "It's not to much farther, hurry." He was nervous leading the others up through the rocks. He had never taken command before, but he wouldn't let his pride down no matter what, especially not his father. Mgeni took a moment to look at the large lion below; his mother was right beside him. Though the rain had obscured everything but the outlines of the pride members, Mgeni could feel his father's judging eyes on him, expecting nothing less than complete success from his son. Mgeni became distracted by this until he heard a cry of distress from one of the lionesses as she slipped a little in the mud.

"It's just up here!" Mgeni encouraged as he jumped onto the first rocks that led to the high ground.

"Where do you think we're going!" A lioness called back to him in sarcasm.

He continued forward just as the rest of the pride began to scale the rocks. Mgeni watched the swelling river tensely as the rest of the pride made it to the safety of the rocks on the high ground. The water was still rising as fast as ever in a speeding current flowing down stream. The rocks that Mgeni had been on to direct the pride only moments ago were already submerged underneath the now flowing river._ This isn't good. We've got to keep moving._ He thought to himself. He looked to the lionesses, with a bit of apprehension. "Everyone follow me. We're gonna go to the highest point I know." He said in a shaky voice.

The pride got ready to move again from their momentary break. Once again Mgeni lead the way. _To my tree, it's the safest place, the tree._ The rocks became steep as he led them, but the pride didn't falter as they stayed right behind the young cub. Mgeni looked up to the peak of the hill. A small tree stood on the top of a rock formation supported by natural stone columns. It was not much further now. The cub looked back down the slope, visible only during a flash of lightning. the water swallowing the resting area the pride was at seconds ago. _We can make it! _Mgeni told himself. _I said to dad I wouldn't let him down._

Mgeni gasped for breath when he finally climbed on top of the rock formation exhausted. He looked down to the pride, surprised to see the water gaining quickly on their tails, literally. One after another though, the pride made it safely onto the small rock formation. _I did it! _Mgeni thought happily_. I saved the pride._ The whole pride watched as the water swept between the columns in a rapid current. There was a whole sigh of relief throughout the pride.

Mgeni sat down at the base of his tree and took the moment to look once again at his father. The lion stared right back at him to the surprise of the cub. Mgeni couldn't believe it when he thought he heard him say a single sentence. "That's my boy, good job my son." He was almost as shocked as he was overjoyed by hearing it. To be finally succeeding with something on his own meant almost the world to him. His triumph was short lived though.

Suddenly the entire rock formation shuddered as a loud crash echoed from underneath the stones. With a giant rumble one side of the large rock fell into the huge rapids as a column collapsed underneath. Mgeni looked down to see the rock formation break in half, falling into the ragging river below. The pride tried their best to anchor themselves to the rock, but it was to no avail as it began to fall on its side. A frightful roar made Mgeni turn look down to the water. He felt his heart stop as he saw a lioness slip, falling beneath the rapids below, not to come back up.

A sudden jerk from the tree branch brought Mgeni back to reality. He felt his paw slip as the tree's bark broke beneath him. His entire world seemed slow down as he felt himself begin to fall. _This is it, I'm gonna die!_ Suddenly though he was jerked to a halt. He looked to see what caught him and saw a light brown lioness with cream patches holding him. He looked back to the tree above to see he had only fallen a couple feet. "Thanks sis." He said gratefully.

"Don't thank me, just hold on." His sister told him as she held him back to the tree. Mgeni held tightly to the branches, this time making sure not to slip. "Now, just stay there, and I'll-" She suddenly roared in pain as a large stone hit her from above, causing her to fall into the rapids below.

"Sis!" Mgeni cried unable to save her from the water and rocks below. Mgeni watched as she plunged into the water, coming back up gasping for breath. He was relieved to see as she managed to clutch onto one of the rocks in the rapids below. Mgeni watched her closely worrying for his sister's safety.

It quickly became the least of his problems though. Before the cub knew what was going on what was left of the rock formation slipped into the river as the last columns collapsed. Mgeni held onto the braches at the top of the tree as tightly as he could as he found himself up to his stomach in the speeding current of freezing water. All around him he heard roars of pain and cries of distress from the pride, many beginning to fade in the distance, or beneath the water.

"Help! Mom, Dad, anybody!" He called in distress. The cub got no response though. He listened for any call in return, but only heard the sound of water crashing into the rocks around him. Mgeni looked around from the top of the now mostly submerged tree. As far as he could see the pride had disappeared leaving him completely alone in the river.

The tree shuddered as something caught hold of it. Mgeni looked down to see a brown colored lioness with cream patches holding onto the braches. "Mgeni…" She whispered, just barely able to be heard over the roar of the water. She looked at him, her eyes completely misty. Her body was badly bruised by the rocks. Mgeni could tell that she was bleeding badly from her injuries as she held to the branches weakly.

"Sis!" Mgeni called as he crawled to her. "I'm here," he grabbed her paw, trying to hold her with all his might. "Just hold on sis, I won't let you go." He looked at her, his eyes filled with fear.

"Mgeni… I… I don't think I can make it. She whispered peacefully.

"What!? No, you have to, please sis." Mgeni cried.

"Mom… always said… you got worried to much." His sister looked back at him with a sympathetic grin. "Mgeni… just remember… remember what father told you… Before we left." She whispered their father's message into his ear.

"Please sis, just hang on a bit longer." Mgeni begged one last time. He started to have difficulty seeing her as tears began to fill his eyes. "Who's going to take care of me?"

"You're smart Mgeni. Just remember, and I'm sure you'll what Dad wanted right…" Her grip began to loosen with Mgeni. "Be strong, and good luck little brother…" Mgeni and his sister tried to keep their hold together a little longer, but with a final snap from the branches, she was torn from Mgeni's his grip. He watched helplessly as she was washed downstream.

"NO!"

* * *

"NO!" the brown cub cried as he jumped out of his sleep, surprising all the lionesses in the den. Nala looked to the young cub at the other side of the den in concern. She was sure he was having a bad dream when Sadia had brought him in the den, now it seemed to be confirmed. The cub opened his eyes wide as he looked around the den, surprised by the change in scenery since he was last conscious.

"Go tell Simba. Our new guest is awake." Nala told one of the lionesses who quickly left the den to follow the order. She looked back again to see the cub backed into a corner as he hesitantly let them inspect him. The lionesses were full curiosity about the mysterious cub, each remarking on one thing or another about him. _He looks just a couple weeks older than Kiara. _Nala thought to herself as she looked back at him. She looked at his eyes, which were darting form lioness to lioness as he gave them a hesitant smile. _Ice blue?_ She was surprised at another slight rarity among lions. She knew that there were others, but other than this cub she had only seen one other lion with any type of blue eyes, and she saw that lioness every time she stared into the water to take a drink, her own reflection.

"Um… excuse me, but where am I?" The cub asked out loud quickly silencing the small group of lionesses. The cub's voice seemed to stutter and crack with every word he spoke, obviously from the large amount of attention that he was receiving.

Nala walked up to him with a cheerful grin on her face. It seemed to do as intended as the cub started to calm down as soon as he saw it. "Don't worry little one. You're safe in priderock now." The cub seemed to be surprised as he heard the word pridelands.

"Really!?" Excitement seemed to boil over him as he began think of his goal in finding his family again. He looked at each of the lionesses again. None of them looked the slightest bit familiar to him, causing the excitement he had to quickly evaporate. _Maybe there just not in here, yeah that's it; they must be outside or something. _Mgeni thought stubbornly keeping hope. "Um… is… my." Mgeni hesitated as he searched for the right words to say.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Sadia asked as she looked down at the cub that seemed at a loss of words as he looked at her with hope in his eyes.

"Are my parents here?" Mgeni burst out, "I've been looking for them, but I don't know where they are. Do you know them?" He looked up at the cream lioness with a little desperation. Her eyes seemed to begin to water after his question.

"No young one. I don't know who they are, but they are not here." Sadia answered him quietly. Looking at the cubs now confused face. There was no way to tell him though. For only a moment Sadia thought she had seen her beloved son making that expression. Hofu had always made that same face to her anytime he did not understand why he couldn't play with the other cubs.

Nala looked down to the little brown lion that looked back at her as if all his hopes had been dashed away. "Don't worry, we can still find them." Nala tried to reassure him, "Now, what's your name little outsider?"

Mgeni stopped when he heard the question. He was sure he had heard that from somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it. The cub quickly put it to the side though as he looked at the large cream lioness in front of him, still waiting for an answer. "It's Mgeni." He responded in a hesitant smile.

"Mgeni is it?" Nala repeated in a comforting smile, "My name is Nala, queen of the Pridelands." She stopped as she saw the cub seem to automatically straighten his stance quickly, being rewarded with a couple of chuckles from the rest of the lionesses. "Maybe we can help. What are your parents' names?"

"I, uhh…" Mgeni began to stutter, baffled by the question. He had never thought about their names before, he had always just been concerned with seeing them again. He tried to search his memory again, with only haze to show up. "I don't… I don't know… sorry…" Mgeni sniffed as he felt angry at himself for not knowing his own parents.

"You don't know?" Nala said surprised "Well, how about telling us what they look like, I'm sure anything could help." Mgeni looked away from her as if ashamed at himself.

"I… I don't know." Mgeni finally blurted out, "I can't remember anything, about myself, or where I'm from, I just can't remember…" Mgeni's eyes darted around the room as he glanced at each of the shocked expressions on the lionesses faces. They had never heard of such a thing happening to a cub before. It seemed to be something out of a fairytale to them.

"You mean you can't remember anything?" one of the lionesses asked with concern.

"Well, I know that there's something there, but each time I try to reach it, it gets all hazy and foggy. Sometimes it really hurts when I try to remember…" Mgeni answered. He looked back to Nala, who stared back at him with sympathy in her eyes till she heard footprints from the mouth of the den causing her to turn to the entrance. A large tan lion with a great red mane came emerged through the entrance. He was massive to Mgeni's perspective as he looked up to the lion. Mgeni suddenly realized who this great lion must have been, king Simba, ruler of the pridelands. But now Mgeni was sure that he wasn't his father, just by looking at him. There seemed to be no similarities between them at all.

"So Nala who's the new guest we have?" Simba asked as he walked into the den. He stopped and flinched once he saw the brown cub before him. Simba had seen that same kind of fur on a cub just five days ago, the son of the lioness who had killed his. _Could this be his brother?_ Simba had known that there was another male lion, but whom, or how old he was, was still a mystery. Simba didn't want to take any chances though.

The cub seemed to be frozen in fear and awe as he backed behind one of the lionesses, still keeping his wide eyes on Simba. It was only then that Simba realized that he was glaring at the cub with a low growl in his throat. He quickly stopped his growling and tried to put on a friendlier face, just barley managing a calm look. It did little to reassure the cub who was now in the corner of the den. "He can't stay here Nala. I want him out of the pridelands." Simba declared immediately.

The statement from the king shocked all the lionesses in the den. The cub seemed to become as pale as paper underneath his fur. "Simba," Nala began, "he's just a cub. You know as well as I do that he'll never survive out there alone."

Simba moved closer to his mate keeping his voice low so the cub would not hear. "Just look at him Nala," Simba said as he looked to the cub mistrustfully, Mgeni flinched when their eyes met, "He's an outlander, he has to be, and you know that Zira has another son. You're not actually thinking of letting him in the pride."

"Simba…" Nala began.

"He's not safe." Simba cut her off "You know what Zira is capable of, would you want her son around our daughter after all that has happened?"

"He couldn't be Zira's son." Nala reassured, "Your eyes are only making you see what you want to, not the truth. We saw her second born the other day, her first born is much older."

"Then who is he?"

"My… my name's Mgeni…" Mgeni stuttered, but one look from Simba took all the courage out of him again, much to Simba's surprise though it seemed to return to him quickly.

"He's lost his memory Simba, he doesn't even remember his own parents, who I believe just abandoned him." Sadia said from behind. Simba paused as heard what she said and looked back to the cub. Mgeni listened to the words looking down in shame of him. "He was unconscious and surrounded by hyenas when we found him, "She continued, "If we hadn't done something he would probably be dead now."

"Simba, doesn't this remind you of someone?" Nala said softly "You said once that if you weren't rescued by Timon and Pumbaa in the dessert and took you in all those years ago, you wouldn't be here now."

The large tan lion reflected back to that day he was woken up by a small meerkat. Timon and Pumbaa had shown him an extreme amount of kindness that day. Many other animals would have taken one look at him and run. Simba looked back to Mgeni, his expression finally becoming friendly. He knew that Sadia was right. "Alright," Simba began, "He can stay, for now. I'll have Zazu look for any lone lioness, maybe his parents are out there. If we don't find them he can stay in the pride, but," Suddenly Simba's voice became sterner as he turned to the mouth of the cave, "Once he is old enough he will leave, just like any other male cub." He stopped once he got to the entrance "Sadia,"

"Yes?" Sadia responded.

"I'll leave him I your care, if you choose."

Sadia's heart seemed to burst with joy from Simba's words. "Thank you Simba," she said almost breathless from the sudden concept of having another cub, "I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

Simba continued down out of the cave leaving an overjoyed Sadia and a surprised Mgeni. The rest of the lionesses seemed to return to their usual doings, some conversing with others who had just arrived about the new face in the pride. Mgeni quickly looked at Sadia in reassurance to what had just happened. He was surprised though to see that she had already been looking at him, grinning as her eyes watered slightly. "So dose this mean I can stay here?" Mgeni asked trying to reassure that what Simba had said had actually happened.

"Yes," Nala answered with a smile at the cub, "That's exactly what it means." A huge grin seemed to grow on the cubs face, one that Nala swore was just like her son's so long ago. Nala took the moment to look out of the cave and into the sky. _It's not much, but I hope this will ease your passing my son._

* * *

The outlands were hot; it was always hot out here to Kifo, nothing like the pridelands where she had grown up. She had to endure it though, just like they all had to. Her belly grumbled as she passed the sand rock that made up the packs new home, but there was nothing she could do about it now, none of them could. Maybe if they were in the pridelands again they could just order the lionesses to go out on another hunt, but in the outlands they reduced to hunting themselves, only managing to get small prey like rabbits, vultures, or the occasional warthog, nothing like the zebra, and wildebeest kills they could take from the lions, but that was ten and this is now she would often tell herself. Life was rough, so you just have to deal with it and look after the only one who cares about you, yourself. It had worked well enough for her so far. After all, she was now one of Hasimu's most trusted subjects.

Masihara followed her close behind almost completely unbothered by the heat as she looked to the sentries at the top of the rocks. Kifo had always been jealous of that. She knew Masihara had lived her entire life out here but that didn't change a thing to Kifo. So what if she had come with Mishinde, Hasimu and some of the others, it didn't change a single thing, they didn't know what it was like to live in the pridelands, to have everything you wanted and in front of your paws, but they had agreed with one of the most important issues. The lions didn't deserve the pridelands, and they would take it from them, anyway they could.

Kifo stopped at the mouth of the cave in the center of small canyon knowing to go any further without permission could be lethal. Hasimu didn't take well to being others invading his privacy. "Hasimu." Kifo called into the den, "We've returned from the mission and…"

"You're late. I would have expected you to return in half the time." A voice form the cave echoed. The owner of the voice quickly showed himself at the mouth of the cave a commanding presence seemed to surround him. He was certainly large for a hyena's standards. The leader of the pack had many scars across his body, along with a single cross marked scar along his face, rewards of his fights with lions and other hyenas in the past. "Well?" Hasimu stared at Kifo coldly with his dark red eyes, damaged in a particular fight with a lion many years ago, "what do you have to report, I would expect good news from you."

"We went into the pridelands just as you ordered sir." Kifo began as she looked down, "Unfortunately we failed to secure another cub for the pack," a low growl emanated from Hasimu showing his disappointment, "but we do have some new intelligence sir."

"Go on." Hasimu said, seemingly slightly uninterested with the trivial of new intelligence. He had come to know that only half of it was useful to him, and half of that half was actually good.

"The pridelanders seem to be weakening from the stress of maintaining order of the pridelands and keeping that rouge pride at bay." Kifo said confidently "If this keeps up, they'll be vulnerable to attack."

Hasimu analyzed her in detail while she was giving her report, quickly picking up on one thing. It seemed Kifo was holding back something. "Where's Mishinde?" He asked sternly.

"He's dead sir." Kifo answered plainly. The large hyena merely sighed at the answer. It seemed that the lions had finally done him a favor. He would have killed Mishinde himself sooner or later. Sure in the past Mishinde's anger at the loss of his mate was useful, but now Mishinde's brash actions were too dangerous to Hasimu's plans. If not for Kifo the mission two nights ago would have ended horribly if the lions had discovered what they were up to. "Fine, is that all?" Mishinde asked as he turned around to enter the den.

"Sir, if I may ask one more thing," Kifo managed to say, causing her leader to stop in his tracks, "Why are we doing this? How is this going to get our revenge?"

Kifo was stunned when she thought she saw an arrogant grin come from Hasimu's face. "Come with me Kifo, there's something I'll show you." Hasimu called. Kifo walked down into the den, hesitating for a moment as she thought of what Hasimu was going to show her.

The den itself was more structured than it seemed from the outside, supported by the boulders that made up the small canyon above. It could easily hold the entire pack with tunnels leading from one den to the next. The hyenas were lucky to find it after their banishment form the pridelands when Simba took on the throne. There was only one problem. Food and water were scarce here, making it difficult for the hyenas to merely survive. It had been spared no mercy from becoming part of the wasteland that made up the outlands. Hasimu did not care though; this was only to be a temporary problem.

Kifo followed him t the very end of one of the tunnels, still wondering what he was planning. She stopped once she finally reached the end of the tunnel into a small den. This den itself was nothing special, just a dirt and stone den, but with the strange smell of drying blood in the room.

"Well Kifo, you were wondering what I was planning for this cub," Hasimu said as he moved out of Kifo's view. Kifo looked down to see a small tan cub lying on the ground, breathing shallowly. The cub had large wounds all over his body, which were now covered in dry leaf bandages made by the most experienced in medicine of the clan. Kifo had always scoffed at the thought that the lions only relied on a single mandrill shaman with medicine. Many of the wounds on the cub were serious, it seemed to be a small miracle that the cub was still breathing, but he was still unconscious, sleeping on a pile of dried grass. "So tell me Kifo, what do you see in this cub?"

Kifo looked closely at the cub that slept peacefully before her, not unlike another that had only a couple hours ago. She could'nt see anything that set the cub apart from any other his age, he looked just like a normal healthy cub should. "Nothing, he's just another pridelander cub." She remarked coldly.

Hasimu laughed at this comment, surprising Kifo. "Yes, but I see more. I see a solution, and I see a weapon. This cub is our solution to taking the pridelands, with a little persuasion, I'm sure he will see our side of things." Hasimu said as he looked to the cub, pleased with how he was healing. "So, did you discover his name?"

"Yes, he was called by his mother, Hofu." Kifo said still wondering about what Hasimu meant by the cub being a solution, but she new better to ask. Hasimu didn't take well to questions, usually resulting for a new scar or two for whoever asked.

"Hofu is it?" Hasimu repeated as he began stroking the cub's fur. "Well Hofu, you'll be taken care of well here."

"Sir, there was one more thing," Kifo interrupted "While we were in the pridelands we came across a light brown cub with ice blue eyes. I'm not sure if he was part of the pridelanders though…"

"What did you say!" Hasimu became completely alert.

"On our recon, there was a brown cub with ice blue eyes," Kifo confirmed, "and was headed for pride rock. It's possible that he was the son of your…"

"No. That is not possible," Hasimu quickly silenced her as if unfazed, "you're starting to see patterns that aren't there. I made sure that he and his pride was dead. We found no survivors, you were there yourself." There must have been thousands of cubs with those features, but there was still something nagging him in the back of his mind. _Only one had to survive…_

* * *

The sun had already set in the Pridelands while Mgeni prepared to sleep in an entirely new cave, much roomier than the hole he slept in the night before. The day had been full of events that had been too quick for the cub realized what had happened. Before he knew it he had reached Priderock, met King Simba, and was now about to join the pride.

Mgeni watched from inside the den as the last rays of sunlight bend over the horizon as darkness overtook the land. The sunset and sunrise had always made him feel at peace each time he watched them, but he didn't think that he had ever seen it was well as he did now on Priderock. He looked down to base of Priderock seeing some of the lionesses calling the cubs back to the den. Mgeni suddenly felt a little nervous as he stood by the mouth of the cave, seeing the other cubs run inside, some of them sneaking a glance or two at him, others completely oblivious to his existence. He watched them with curiosity, wondering which ones seemed friendly. _What do they think of me, will they like me?_ Mgeni caught himself thinking. He suddenly stopped himself though. _Why should they hate me, they don't even know my name yet._

Mgeni watched as the last of the cubs walked in, some complaining that they were not tired, others whining that they were not sleepy. One single cub caught Mgeni's attention though. The little tan lioness walked in slowly, her head hung low as if depressed. She stopped once she realized Mgeni's presence, turning to stare at him with her gold eyes. Mgeni felt a chill when he saw those eyes, as if he had seen them before. _Who is she? _He thought to himself. The lioness opened her mouth as if to ask a question.

"Kiara," Simba called causing the cub to stop and look in his direction, "come here, your mother would wish to speak to you." The little lioness walked back to Simba, who escorted her to the back of the den every once and a while glancing back at Mgeni. Mgeni paused as he tried to work out what had happened, but it was not long before his thoughts were interrupted as well.

"Mgeni," Sadia called from the back of the den, "Its time for bed." It took a moment for Mgeni to realize that his new, and hopefully temporary, foster mother had given him a command, but quickly enough he had returned to her side. The cream colored lioness seemed to be pleased when he saw him return to her, as he yawned loudly.

"Um, Ms Sadia, who is that cub over there?" Mgeni asked as he pointed in the direction of the tan cub who was now speaking with her mother.

"Hmmm?" Sadia looked into the direction that he pointed to with his paw, "Oh, well that is princess Kiara, Simba's daughter." Mgeni paused as he took this information in. _So that's why she seemed familiar_, Mgeni thought to himself as he listened to Sadia continue. "She is really a sweet cub. I believe you might like to become friends with her if you want to. She is just so distant with the others lately…"

Mgeni was starting to subconsciously tune Sadia out though as he watched Kiara, with her mother, who had seemed to have cheered her up. Soon Mgeni heard a laugh come from the little cub, which seemed to cheer him up as well. _I wonder what my mother is like._ Mgeni started to think as he laid his head down and closed his eyes. He began to think of everything he could remember about his family again, and again nothing seemed to come. Suddenly though a memory did start to seep into Mgeni's mind, it was the dream he had.

Mgeni began to feel a chill in his heart as he played the memory over and over in his head. Watching the brown lioness with cream patches, without a doubt his sister, fall into the rapids again and again. He ran through the images once again, hoping that it would change, that no one had fallen, that everything was fine, but to no use. It was the same thing again and again, the messages coming perfectly clear to Mgeni. His family, friends, and everything he knew, was washed away in the rapids, because he made a mistake. He knew he had made a mistake, something that he did wrong, and everyone paid for it. Tears began to flow down his muzzle as he watched his sister fall into the rapids again. _I'm sorry…sis… sheesh I can't even remember your real name…_ Mgeni though as he beat himself up inside. It was only then that Mgeni realized there was a voice behind him. It was soft and gentle like a lullaby.

Sadia looked down at the little brown cub between her paws as she started her song, the same song that she had sung to Hofu every night.

_Don't stop your crying it'll be alright,_

_Just take my paw,_

_Hold it tight,_

_I will protect you from all around you, _

_I will be here, don't you cry…_

She continued her lullaby softly as she looked down to the brown cub, now falling asleep between her paws. _Thank you Mufasa I promise I won't let lose him as long as I'm alive. I'll protect you, my Mgeni…_ Sadia finally fell asleep, now knowing that her cub had returned, but this time, he would not be leaving.

* * *

Thats it for chapter six, can't wait to hear what you think.


	7. Part of the Pride

Hey everyone, I'm still alive. I'm so sorry for the long wait for this one. I have had such a serious case of writers block, and I probably had to rewrite this chapter twice. I'm still not sure if its that good. I just hope I fixed the character problem.

Another thing I just wanna say it Thanks to everyone who has commented so far, You guys have really kept me going with this story. **Also another thanks to IxoxoheartoxoxNuka for letting me use her character Sakina in this chapter.** **If I accidentally her up IxoxoheartoxoxNuka I'm really sorry, just tell me how to fix it, and I'll try my best**. Anywho heres the much awaited chapter 7

All Disney characters appearing in this story are NOT mine Mgeni, Sadia, Hofu, and the Hyena trio (NOT Shenzi, Banzi, and Ed) ARE mine

* * *

Chapter 7

Part of the Pride

The burning savannah sun broke over the horizon illuminating Priderock out of the slumbering land around it, just like it had so many times before. _This is one thing that will never change. _Simba thought as he gazedat the sunlight from the very top of Priderock. He was at peace here, just him and memories of days gone by. It was the perfect place to think through his problems. He looked back to the first time his father showed him the kingdom. How exited he was that day, as he looked to the Pridelands and his future kingdom.

The tan lion looked back to that morning. Simba's father held his head up high as he told Simba about his responsibilities as ruler of the kingdom, and how one day they would be passed down to him. Simba reflected humbly on his attitude that morning, not even thinking of responsibilities, blissfully unaware. _I won't let you down Dad. I'll do everything I can to protect them._ Simba thought as he looked back down the slope that leads to the den.

"So his name's Mgeni," Simba spoke out loud as he turned back to see the sun just rising off the horizon, "even if I let him stay, how can I trust him around the others?" He asked himself. He had discussed this very issue with Nala the night shortly after making sure Mgeni and Kiara were both asleep, it wasn't anything either cub needed to hear.

Simba was still worried for the pride's safety around this cub. While he did not think that the cub himself was a danger, Simba still had no idea about the cub's past. Even the simplest of things such who he was, where he came from, how long he had been alone, and most importantly who if anyone was looking for him were a complete mystery. The pride was to week to have to fight a whole group of outsiders over a single cub if they were hostile. But Simba knew that he would never have the pride just abandon Mgeni in the savannah alone and defenseless. It reminded Simba of stories of some unfortunate cubs during Scar's reign. Simba swore that he would not let any other cub suffer a similar fate as long as he lived as ruler of the Pridelands.

Simba was still unsure about this cub though. He didn't hate Mgeni, but there was something about him that Simba felt was strange, but he couldn't quite place his paw on it. Nala reasoned with him though that the pride was safe around this cub. Mgeni had showed himself to be very kind, not threatening in the least bit, in fact maybe a little timid. Simba knew she was right about that. He could tell the cub was unlike any others he knew of, mostly his shyness. Mgeni usually stayed quite, only speaking if he was asked a question, but even then he only would say a couple words. Probably what had caught Simba's attention the most though was the cub's bravery. Each time Simba made eye contact, the cub would flinch for a second, but then would straiten himself out again, pretending he wasn't afraid. His eyes told a completely different story though. Simba could tell Mgeni was almost scared to death of him. _What an unusual cub he is._ Simba thought as he reflected on last night.

"Good morning sire," A voice from the air interrupted Simba's thoughts, "My your up quite early this morning." Zazu remarked as he landed, bowing like he did every morning.

"I was just thinking," Simba answered

"About that riffraff cub?" Zazu asked. He was never fond of outsiders, growing particularly wary of them after the Zira and her followers were banished to the outlands. The old bird had his fare share of experiences with outsiders ranging from lions to hyenas, with few turning out very well for him.

"Among other things yes," Simba said as he grinned at the major domo, "Tell me Zazu, what do you think about this Mgeni cub."

"Hmm?" Zazu was set back by this question. It wasn't every day that Simba would ask him for his opinion. "Well… I haven't even seen him yet, but I'd say it would be best we just get this cub out of our hair and be done with it. Its common protocol to start a search for the guardians if a lost cub is found, I'll begin it immediately." Zazu said as he prepared to take off.

"Actually Zazu," Simba stopped him, "I think it would be best is you summoned Rafiki here."

"Sire," Zazu responded, a little surprised by the command, "you do not believe he will actually be staying do you?" He said in a plain tone.

"Call it a hunch Zazu," Simba reassured, "but I think he might be staying a little longer than we believe."

"Very well sire," Zazu said, not sounding too exited about the concept of the cub staying, "as you wish." With that Zazu took to the air again, gliding lazily out of sight from Simba.

Simba reflected on what he said to Zazu. The feeling was more than just a hunch than he wanted to admit. Something inside him felt wrong, it would only be a matter of time till something from the cub's past would find him, but what it was, Simba could never be sure. He turned to look down to the base of Priderock to see a lone lioness exit the den. It didn't take long for Simba to recognize her. He watched as Sadia watched the sun, preparing for a new day.

* * *

"Pssst… hey, are you awake?" A small voice whispered into Mgeni's ear, "Hello, anyone in there?"

Mgeni stirred a little as he slowly opened his eyes to see two large golden eyes staring back at him. He flinched as he jumped to his feet when he realized who he was staring at. Before him stood Kiara, princess of the Pridelands, staring at him in curiosity. Kiara laughed a little at his shocked appearance to her.

"Hi, my name's Kiara." She said with a polite grin on her face, one that Mgeni swore was just like the Nala gave him the day before. "What's yours?" she asked.

"I… uhh..." Mgeni was at a loss for words again. He wasn't sure if he had ever spoken to another cub before, never mind a princess. "I'm Mgeni." He spat out quickly, returning a smile.

"Mgeni?" Kiara repeated, "That's a funny name."

"Now Kiara," A voice said from the mouth of the den scolded, "that's not very polite to say to him. He went through allot yesterday, he's still tired." A pale tanned lioness with a soft white underbelly and paws said as she approached the two cubs.

"Sorry Auntie Sakina." Kiara apologized

"It's alright," Sakina answered the lecturing voice she gave most cubs, "just try not to make a habit about it."

Mgeni found himself staring at the lioness in awe. She was certainly beautiful as far as lionesses go, but Mgeni was confused. She didn't look like she held any relation to Simba or Nala, but he thought better than to ask her about it. Mgeni began to wonder which one she was related to, was she Simba's sister?

"As for you Mgeni," She turned to face Mgeni, causing him to turn away pretending he wasn't staring at her. Sakina gave an inquisitive grin at the cub, unsure of why the cub was staring at her. "I think Sadia and my brother are waiting for you outside, your late, everyone's waiting."

"Late?" Mgeni asked surprised, "Oh… okay." He said as he turned to look at the mouth of the den, obviously unsure of what was going on. "For what?" he asked, still unsure if it was wise to ask.

Sakina smirked at the question the brown cub gave her, "You'll see." She said simply. She knew she wasn't to tell him what was going to happen, that would be Rafiki's job. She and Kiara watched as the cub walked out to the mouth of the cave suddenly to stop and look back to her with a questioning face. "Go down the slope, Sadia will be there." She called.

Sakina waited for the cub to leave before she narrowed her eyes at where she last saw him. The pale tanned lioness wanted to be kind to this Mgeni, but she was still unsure about him. She could tell that her god brother was concerned for Kiara's safety around this outsider, but he didn't seem to have any dark intent on the pride. Sakina knew though that looks could be deceiving, it wasn't the first time she saw a lion put on an act, even if he was just a cub. _Maybe Simba's just overreacting._ She thought trying to stay open minded, but she couldn't tell herself.

"Auntie Sakina?" a small voice beside her asked. Sakina looked to see Kiara looking at her with questioning eyes. "Mom told me last night that Mgeni was found out in the savannah yesterday, is that true?"

"Yes Kiara," Sakina answered, glad to see her niece back to the way she was before the loss of Hofu, no doubt to the appearance of Mgeni. "Your mother and some of the others found him the other day while we were going out at the watering hole."

"And is it true he'll be staying here from now on?" Kiara asked as she began to imagine having an outsider cub in the pride.

"Well, if we don't find his guardians, then yes, it is very likely he will stay." Sakina said, unleashing a small amount of excitement from Kiara. Sakina grinned at her niece's happiness

"Auntie, do you think that he knows Kovu?" Kiara asked finally.

Sakina was set back by this question. She didn't expect Kiara mentioning that name to her again. "No Kiara, wherever Mgeni came from, he's not part of the outlander pride." Kiara lost her grin after she told her that. "Oh don't worry. I'm sure that you'll like him better than Kovu." Sakina said to reassure her, managing to get Kiara to smile again.

"Thanks Auntie Sakina." Kiara said relieved by her words. Sakina grinned as she watched Kiara, apprehensive for the ceremony that was about to begin to end as soon as possible. It reminded her of herself when she would wait for Nuka to come to the den to play behind Zira's back. _Well, I'm still not sure about him, but if he can give Kiara a friend, he can't be all bad._ She thought as she waited herself for the ceremony to begin.

* * *

Mgeni walked down the stone slope to where he believed he would get to the base of Priderock. As he continued down though, he wasn't quite sure where to go from there. He had never been around Priderock before. In fact the only part of Priderock he had actually seen was just outside the mouth of the den before now.

He looked at the large rock formation as soon as he managed to reach the ground. Mgeni was awe struck by the shear size of it. It was much larger than he could have ever imagined it when it was just off the horizon. He quickly regained himself once he heard a voice from across the base of the rock.

"Mgeni," Sadia called from across the base of the rock formation. Mgeni began walking towards her, soon realizing that she wasn't alone. It seemed the entire pride was outside around Priderock. Mgeni began to feel stage fright as he walked toward Sadia, grabbing the attention of the of seemingly every pride member._ What's going on, why are they staring at me?_ He thought as he continued down the path towards Sadia.  
With all the attention Mgeni hadn't noticed who was beside Sadia until he got halfway to the rock she was standing by. Simba looked down at him, his eyes seeming to stare right through Mgeni. He took a small step back as he stared at the king in hesitation, but then continued toward Sadia, looking at her for reassurance. He looked back to the king to see he had a smirk on his face.

"It's alright Mgeni your not in trouble," Sadia said as she noticed his hesitation, "but you're going to have to be up here for the ceremony to start." She said as she pointed to a rock she sat beside. It was a smooth rock with a small tip that reminded Mgeni of the one right above him on Priderock, only this one was much smaller, probably only large enough for a single lioness to lie on. Mgeni did as he was told and jumped onto the smooth rock, with a small amount of complaint from his still sore hind legs. He glanced back at Simba who was still eying him carefully, but at least he had a friendlier face this time.

"Ms Sadia," Mgeni asked, still confused, "What's going on, what ceremony?"

The cream lioness gave out a small breath in humility as she realized her foster son's ignorance in the pride's ceremonies. She knew she should have known better than to assume he knew all the customs of their pride. "It's a cub's presentation into our pride. Every cub in the pride here has one." She explained to Mgeni, "The royal family has the largest ones, all the animals in the kingdom come to see them. But normal cubs like you only are presented to the pride."

She did not even finish her sentence before Mgeni began to look around to see the other lionesses gathering around the rock. Some of the cubs had joined as well. More curious on what the commotion was than the actual presentation ceremony. Even a meerkat and warthog were standing amongst the crowd much to Mgeni's surprise. Mgeni began to feel as if butterflies were in his stomach. He wasn't used to so much attention. It was out of the corner of Mgeni's eye though that he noticed a few familiar faces. The other lionesses parted as Nala made her way to Simba's side. Kiara and followed close behind, sneaking a couple glances at Mgeni as she walked.

"Well, you have quite well," A voice said behind Mgeni, causing him to flinch. He turned his head quickly to see the old mandrill he had met just two days ago. "I told you dat we would meet again." Rafiki said as he stepped onto the rock beside Mgeni, raising his staff to begin the ceremony.

Rafiki cracked open one of the gourds that were tied to his staff, the entire time Mgeni stared at him curiously, unsure of what he should do. Rafiki continued by taking out some of the gourd's juice. It was a bright orange, unlike the normal ripe red colors Rafiki would normally use for royal cubs. He then moved to Mgeni, marking his forehead across with a bright orange mark. Mgeni just stood still, unsure if he should follow Rafiki as he jumped off the rock.

Rafiki moved to the next part of the ritual, gathering a small amount of sand from beside the rock, and then returned to his place on the rock. He quickly sprayed the sand over Mgeni's head. Mgeni barley managed to keep from sneezing as the dust entered his nostrils. Sadia grinned as she watched Mgeni try to keep from sneezing.

Rafiki moved on to the final part of the ceremony. "Walk up to da tip of da rock young one." He told Mgeni. Normally Rafiki would pick up the cub, but Mgeni was much too old for that. Rafiki was also getting a little too old, he was not sure if he would be able to hold Mgeni long enough for anything like that.

Mgeni did as the mandrill shaman told him, feeling a bit awkward, but happy as he looked down to see all the eyes that were staring up at him. Rafiki walked up beside him pointing his staff to the sky. "Great kings of da past hear me. I present to you Mgeni, now and forever under our protection as a pridelander. Give him comfort whenever he finds himself alone, give him guidance whenever he finds himself lost, and always show him his way home whenever he is far away." As if to answer the shaman a strong breeze began to swirl around the base of pride rock, kicking up a small amount of leaves. A couple of the leaves brushed across his face and ears.

A couple of the lionesses cheered as the small breeze died down. Simba looked to the cub as he walked down the stone to return to his foster mother's side. He grinned as he watched the other cubs finally take interest into the new, if not temporary, pride member. Mgeni seemed to back behind Sadia as he was mobbed with questions and remarks from the other cubs. Simba decided that now would be the best time to intervene.

"Okay now everybody," Simba said, "Leave Mgeni be for right now, I'm sure your mothers want you back now." The cubs groaned as they scattered back to their mothers. "Now for you Mgeni," Simba turned toward, "I'm sure you still want to see the kingdom, but for right now I think it would be best if you stayed around Priderock with the others, we can't have you gone when we find your parents."

"Oh, uh yes sir, err I mean your majesty," Mgeni quickly tried to correct himself. The last thing he wanted to do was get on Simba's bad side.

Simba laughed at the cub's panic to be formal "Please, Simba will do just fine." He said.

"Thank you Simba for all your kindness," Sadia interrupted, "now Mgeni, follow me, its time you had a bath. When was the last time you were cleaned?" She asked rhetorically. Simba watched as Mgeni grumbled in dissatisfaction as he followed Sadia further down the slope.

Simba turned to leave, but was suddenly stopped by Nala. "So, what do you think of him?" She asked.

"I guess you were right," Simba said in defeat, "he doesn't seem to be a danger, but still, that's what we thought of Nuka and the others," Simba countered. "I just want to keep an eye on him for a little longer."

"Simba," Nala scolded, as she pushed him over, "you worry too much for Kiara's safety. Don't worry, she'll be fine." She said as she walked back to the den to gather her hunting group for the day.

Simba got up as he watched her leave. He still wasn't sure she was completely right. He looked back down the slope, seeing Mgeni as he tried to keep the tuft of fur that made up his small mane intact as Sadia licked him clean. It still didn't feel like Mgeni was directly a threat, but there was still something about the cub that just wasn't right to him, something Simba wasn't sure he could trust.

Simba began his way to start his patrol, and to check up on Zauz's progress with the search. He sighed as he again thought about what it could be that disturbed him about Mgeni, still coming up with no clue. He would still try his best to act kindly to the brown cub. After all, whatever it was, it didn't feel like it was his fault, but Simba would still keep his guard up. The pride was still far too weak with the banishment of the outlanders, and Simba made sure nothing would make them lose another pride member.

* * *

The sun was in the center of the sky by the time Rafiki jumped onto one of the branches of the tree of life after returning from the day's presentation ceremony. He had been completely satisfied with how his work was progressing. It began at a bumpy start from the surprise confrontation with the hyenas, but now things were starting to go exactly as planned again. Mgeni had finally become a pridelander and met Kiara to boot. Rafiki took a moment of pride and reflected on these accomplishments.

He jumped to the branch where he had found the old scratched up picture of the lone lion, earning a creak form the old branch. He pondered as he looked at the picture, noticing something was just not right. In an instant a flash of inspiration hit Rafiki. He jumped down to retrieve his paints, and then returned to the old picture.

"All you need is a fresh coat a paint," he said as he began putting a new coat of brown on the once gray lion. "Dere you go Mgeni." He said pleased with his work. It was the though that he noticed something peculiar about the new painting. There was a single scar left in the wood, buried deep into the chest of the painted lion right where his heart would be.

Rafiki took this in for a moment to try to figure out what it meant, but then realized his more important mission with Kiara and Kovu. Part of him felt guilty about using a cub to do his work for him, but right now the entire pride was at steak. Besides if he played his cards right, Mgeni would none the wiser about what Rafiki had planned for him. Rafiki left the picture be as he jumped back down to the center of the tree, contemplating on what he needed Mgeni to do next.

* * *

Well thanks for continuing to read. If you have any questions please comment, I'll be more than glad to explain. Also I have a question if anyone feels like answering. What do you all think of Mgeni, I'm starting to worry that I still need to improve his personality. He is supposed to be a bit timid right now but he'll change for the better I hope.


	8. What Dosent Belong

Wow hey guys, I know I know, its been months since the last chapter. Have had really bad writers block fr a while, and also computer troubles. Now that I'm back though I promise ya that I'll never take this long to update again X_X All characters, except for Mgeni, Sadia, Shuku, hasimu, and the hyena trio (NOT shenzi banzi and Ed) are owned by disney.

Chapter 8

What doesn't belong

"Umm… Ms Sadia I…" was all Mgeni could say before his cheek was pulled by a large lick as Sadia cleaned off the last of the dust from his fur. "Ms Sadia….." Mgeni whined in between licks "I think I'm clean now." The cub may have seemed different from the others, but apparently not even he enjoyed a bath from a lioness.

"Alright, alright, you're clean enough." Sadia said grinned as she spared Mgeni from the rest of his bath. The brown cub almost waited no time to escape from between her paws. Sadia had a small moment of pride as she looked to her foster son.

Mgeni had improved much since he was discovered by the pride. His fur had been covered in dust, dirt, and dry blood from his time alone out in the savannah. Also his ribs could be seen underneath from his lack of food. But now the brown cub looked almost completely different from the way he had come into Sadia's life. His now dry, clean, light brown coat and cream furred belly had a small sheen in the sun. Also, while his ribs still showed a little, it was obvious the cub had much more energy than the day before thanks to a bit of zebra meat.

Sadia lifted herself up form the rock, towering over little Mgeni. "Ok Mgeni," She said as she stretched, "time for you to meet the other cubs." She looked down, glancing one last time at him to make sure he was presentable before she headed back to the

Mgeni's ears drooped a little, in hesitation after hearing those words. He turned to look back up the hill to Priderock. He knew he had seen tem before, playing and laughing while enjoying their games. Other than the princess, Mgeni couldn't remember talking to a single cub before. Something inside him didn't like the idea of being in a large group of them. "Umm… ok" Mgeni said obediently as he followed Sadia to the bottom of pride rock. He followed the cream lioness closely, unsure of what to think about the other cubs.

The bottom of Priderock was busy with the playing and laughter of cubs, just like it had any other day. Many cubs either to busy to notice or just having forgotten "Mom look," a small cub voice whisper caught Mgeni's ear, "it's that brown cub." Mgeni glanced in the cub's direction. The cub was lying underneath a lioness, which Mgeni could only assume was her mother. She seemed to be much younger than Mgeni, probably only a couple months old. The little grey lioness looked at him in what seemed to be overwhelming curiosity. "Can I go see him mom?" She whispered into the mother's ear, hoping that Mgeni wouldn't hear.

The lioness glanced at Mgeni for a moment, looking back to the little grey cub, seeming to torn for some reason "ok Kumba…..," Her mother whispered back with a bit of concern, "But be careful around him….." The last part of her sentence caught Mgeni's ear, causing him to look straight at the lioness that spoke, her eyes seeming to be worrisome for her daughter. _What did she mean by that? _Mgeni thought for a moment, but was interrupted when he got a nudge from Sadia

"Go ahead Mgeni," Sadia encouraged him as she moved away to join the other lionesses on the rocks, "say hello." Mgeni was snatched back to reality as the grey lioness ran up to hi, her eyes full of curiosity. He looked back to Sadia, only to see her walking to the rest of the rocks already seeming to be in conversation with the babysitting lionesses.

"Hi! I'm Kumba." The small cub said to him with enthusiasm as she grinned happily, "who are you?" She looked up at Mgeni, full of wonder about a strange cub from a land far away.

"Umm… Mgeni…" Mgeni replied, a little unsure of what to say. He glanced around the rocks as he noticed more cubs taking interest in the conversation. Some had gotten up to finally get a chance to inspect strange brown cub up close for themselves. Some seemed to have she same look that Kumba had, while others seemed to share the reaction as her mother.

"That's a funny name" a male cub from the side laughed, earning a couple giggles, and a hush from the other cub beside him. Mgeni glanced at the laughing cub coldly for a moment, not appreciating the comment. His name was one of the few things he _did_ remember, he didn't care how funny it was.

"Mgeni...." Kumba repeated, taking in the unusual name, "ooooo….. Dose it mean anything?" She said, her curiosity of the mysterious foreigner only deepening. The other cubs all looked at Mgeni, anxious to hear an answer. He could feel the pressure being pushed onto him.

"Umm… I don't know…" Mgeni responded to the grey cub. Honestly he had never thought of it. All he knew was it was his name. He began to wonder himself where it had come from. Was it a family name? Was he named after an ancestor of his? Did it mean anything special? Again, all he got was hazy mist, and frustration at himself for not knowing the answer. Again his thoughts were interrupted as he felt something pulling on his tail. He looked back to see Kumba playing with his tail tugging off some of the hairs on his tail tuft.

"Why are you so brown?" The grey cub said giggling, "Did you play in mud and it got all stuck to you like this?" The comment got a couple laughs and giggles from all the other cubs. Mgeni's ears drooped as he heard all the laughs and giggles about his fur. He looked around and realized why they thought it was funny. Around him he saw plenty of cream, red, and tan coats of fur, but among them there was not a single hair of light brown. Mgeni was beginning to feel much more of an outsider than he already was.

"No…" Mgeni defended himself, "it's… umm… my mom's color, and she gave it to me when I was born…" he lied. The question itself was a very good one he thought. In truth, he had no idea what color his parents were. Everything about them was still just haze to Mgeni.

"You must have a funny mom." Another cub snickered, earning another couple laughs from some of the young cubs. Kumba kept up her search though, seemingly oblivious of the other cub's jokes and remarks as Mgeni cringed with every laugh.

"Are you all brown like this where you come from?" Kumba asked, completely insistent on satisfying every question she had. "There must be allot of mud where you live if your mom is like you to." the giggles from Kumba's unintentional remarks felt like small cuts to Mgeni. He glanced back to the cub, his patients finally beginning to fail as his eyes squinted at her.

"It's not mud!!" Mgeni shot back at Kumba as he snatched his tail back from her, pushing the cub away in the process. He quickly felt guilty about it though as he saw her eyes water and her shocked and confused face right before she began crying. He knew that she did not tease him purposely, but it still hurt.

"Hey what did she do to you browny?" the same male cub from before shouted out getting laughs from many of the cubs. Some began to repeat the word over into small chant, until they earned a hush from a lioness. At first, the lionesses were oblivious to the commotion going on, but now, one had come to see what was going on. She towered over the couple of cubs surrounding Kumba and Mgeni, eyes darting to each of them demanding an explanation.

"What's going on here?" Kumba's mother asked, eyeing Mgeni suspiciously. Mgeni flinched as he looked at her. Her attention fell completely on Mgeni as their eyes made contact.

"Mgeni is making Kumba cry." One of the cubs called out. The older lioness looked down at her cub, her face contorting into a glare as she turned to face Mgeni.

Mgeni froze in place as she walked toward him and Kumba. "Listen outsider," She said in a stern voice, "you leave my little Kumba alone. I don't want you anywhere near her. You may have Simba fooled…. but I know your kind outsider, your nothing but trouble." She seemed to be filled with fire as she bared his teeth to him, a slight growl coming from her throat. "I won't let any your kind threaten my daughter, you hear me?" For a moment, Mgeni thought that he saw Simba saying those words to him. He stood there, frozen in silent fear as she glared at him.

"I…" Mgeni said as he backed up, the cubs moved out of the way as he and the lioness left the small circle. The rest of the cubs watched in surprise and wonder.

"Well?" She said, staring at Mgeni hardly seeming to notice he was cornered into the rocks. It would not be for long though. Quickly the brown cub burst back to his feet, slipping by the angry mother as he ran away from the rocks, back into the brush and out of her sight. The lioness scoffed, a bit satisfied as she turned back to the cubs who seemed completely confused as to what had just happened.

The sun felt warm against the rocks as Sadia sunbathed with the other lionesses. Today she had been called to take care of the cubs, since she herself now had one of her own to take care of once more. Sadia hardly complained about it though, she always enjoyed watching the cubs play their games.

"The younglings seem happy today," Sarabi commented as she watched the cubs playing, her eyes fell on a certain brown cub that seemed to be standing like a statue. "Though I think yours seems a bit overwhelmed." The old lioness chuckled as she turned to Sadia.

"He'll get used to them," Sadia said as she looked back Sarabi. It was no doubt to her that Mgeni seemed intimidated by the entire pride, but he also seemed to have more courage in him than he showed.

Sarabi looked back down at the young mother below her. Her face was filled with relief and pride as Sadia talked about her foster son. Sarabi looked back to the cubs playing under the rocks, but grew confused as she looked closely. "That's odd…" she remarked "I can't see that little brown one anymore…."

"What?" Sadia asked growing a little concerned as she looked herself. All the cubs were there, all except Mgeni.

"Don't worry," Sarabi reassured, "he's probably just behind the rocks, and you know how cubs are…"

Sarabi got up, still slightly concerned. "You're probably right…." she remarked to the older lioness, "but I'll check on him to make sure." She said as she walked towards the rocks.

Sadia looked around the group of cubs as they played, seemingly unaffected by the moments that had taken place just a few minutes ago. She grinned as she looked across the crowd cubs playing, but something was immediately wrong to her. Her face paled as she spoke to herself "Where's Mgeni?" She didn't see him anywhere in the crowd of cubs. One cub caught her attention though.

Not to far away from the other cubs, was laying little Kumba on the rocks, obviously upset about something. Above her sat her mother, now resting her eyes with a smug grin on her face.

"Where is he Shuku?" Sadia asked accusingly as she looked down on the grey lioness

Shuku looked up to her, idly inspecting her paws as she looked back down. "I don't know who your talking about." She said, turning her attention back to Sadia.

"Mgeni" Sadia said, her eyes pressed into a glare, "You know what happened to him, you've been here all along."

"Oh," Shuku said absent mindedly "

"You won't be able to protect him forever," Shuku said as Sadia began walking towards the brush "

Sadia pause for a moment, turning her head to look at Shuku "I can try." She said stubbornly as she walked into the brush. _Was Shuku right?_ The back of Sadia's mind asked, she pondered the question only for a moment. She brushed it aside though as quickly as it came up _Of course she isn't. _Sadia reassured herself. And right now she needed to find her son.

Kinda a short chapter but I'll be getting more up by the end of the week. Hope you enjoy the story, and as always, review your opinions and I'll see how I can make it more interesting.


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